Our story is one of family

Frank “The Chief” Corrigan relocated to Dearborn, Michigan, in 1923, enticed by the $5 daily wage offered by Ford Motor Company. At Ford, Frank worked nights on the Ford farms carrying out a variety of varying jobs – sometimes even chauffeuring Henry Ford himself. The Chief was motivated, and in the daytime when he was not working at Ford he operated an ice delivery service with his brother. When the Great Depression hit, Frank drove his trucks to assist families forced from their homes move their possessions.

And thus, Corrigan Moving Systems was born.

World War II presented a new difficulty to Frank and Corrigan Moving because of the difficulty hiring movers during the WWII years. Frank’s oldest son, Paul Corrigan, was called back from the Air Force in 1945 to assist the family and the family company. Paul had hopes of attending a university. Instead, he took on the moving company, learning through what he named the “school of hard knocks”.

Paul showed himself to be a gifted leader, and under his direction Corrigan started to expand. In 1949, Corrigan joined United Van Lines because the idea of being part of an agency-owned van line appealed to Paul. The co-op structure gives agents, like Corrigan, a voice in the strategy of the van line.

During the next 40 years, the Corrigan family grew in parallel with the business. Paul married Kathleen O’Hehir in 1954 and hand-in-hand they raised six children. While growing up all six kids worked at Corrigan.

In 1969 Corrigan started its second office in Ann Arbor, Michigan and ran as a two-office organization for the next 15 years. Starting in 1984, they began a rapid eight-year expansion and acquisition phase. New branches were started in Auburn Hills, Toledo, Flint, Bay City and Grand Rapids. In 1987, Corrigan bought a new warehouse facility in Farmington Hills and relocated their headquarters from the Dearborn office.

In 1995, the third generation were promoted to the executive positions at the moving company.

Corrigan Moving has always embraced expansion options that help increase its quality and service offerings. Two top-tier possibilities became available to David Corrigan, and so, in 2003, a branch was added in Rochester, New York. Then a Chicago, Illinois warehouse followed in 2006. These were the first Corrigan branches in these two states. Greater expansion brought a warehouse in Cleveland, Ohio; and in 2018, a branch was opened in Buffalo, New York. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania warehouse joined in 2022.

As Corrigan has expanded, it has also advanced its offerings. Far from hauling ice, Corrigan now offers a broad range of services including household goods moving, commercial and workplace moving, record storage, systems furniture assembly and disassembly, logistics, and international freight forwarding.

Today, the Corrigan employees continue to uphold Frank’s original code of ethics. And thanks to that, we have grown into the most respected moving company countrywide.