Elijah McCoy’s Grave

The real McCoy is buried in Warren. Elijah McCoy — born in Canada to parents who had escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad — trained as an engineer in Scotland, settled near Detroit, and spent his life inventing. His masterpiece was the humble “drip cup,” a self-lubricating device that let heavy machinery run without stopping to be oiled; railroads and factories wanted the genuine article, and the legend goes that’s where “the real McCoy” was born. He held some fifty-seven patents in all.

He died in 1929 and was laid to rest at Detroit Memorial Park, among the community that claimed him. On our list — one of the most consequential inventors this region ever produced.