Along Gratiot Avenue in Roseville, this site became Michigan's first commercial airport in 1919 and later the location of Michigan's first shopping center, which opened in 1954. Packard Motor Car Company, a leading American automobile manufacturer before World War I, developed military aircraft engines as America joined that war in 1917 and opened Packard Field after the war to continue aircraft development. Later known as Roseville Airport or Hartung-Gratiot Airport, the field brought air shows, aviation training programs, and celebrity pilots to Roseville. The airport closed in 1951, and automobile parking lots for the Eastgate Shopping Center replaced it. Eastgate Shopping Center opened one week before Northland Shopping Center in 1954.