Buick 1931.

This is the same location, on the roof of the old Buick garage #08 and engineering #78, as shown in the previous post. This is a series 90 7 passenger sedan. This is the first year of Buick's famous straight 8 which would be built until 1953. I have another photo from this location that I will post as soon as I locate it.  1932 story on the engineering staff of #78.

 Link: 

Buick 1941 "Staehli"

Buick 1941 "Staehli"S

Here we see a 1941 receiving it's front sheet metal assembly. This the way it was done for many years.

Denise “Staehli” Nanney asked this question about her grandfather on theFlint Expatriates site.  Quote: My grandpa Staehli….He was an engineer in the Buick experimental dept. He’s standing outside the car. Does anyone know what year this car is?  It is a 1941 Series 90 or 91-F depending on the interior seating. Six or 8 passenger. This is the roof parking structure of the #08/#78 engineering building/ Garage south of Hamilton Avenue. The inserted photo and the photo shown larger at the top (from Denise)  is facing east. The overall view of the Buick factories (about 1950) is shown from the south west. His name was George M Staehli. You can super enlarge just about any photo on this blog for viewing small details. The way this is done is a little different depending on which browser is used.

1930

 Links:

HellCat Tank Training & Engineering 1943.

W.F. Stewart Factory 4 & Buick Garage #08.

Factory #08

Ruth Nash

A 1941 model 61 Century Sedan. Notice fire hall #4 on Industrial in the background.

Factory #08 1923

A 1932 series 90 Victoria Coupe up on the same roof.

Peter DePaolo, a world famous racing driver of the time and long time fan of Buick's, accepts delivery of his 1927 5-passenger Master Six Brougham  one of several new Buick's that he bought this year. Designated the model 27-51, the 4,050 pound car sold for $1,925. Buick built 13,862, all for domestic sales and all finished in Paul Revere green. The specially built trunk, which fitted into the built-in trunk rack, was an accessory, as were bumpers. This is from George Dammann's book: Seventy Years Of Buick.  This is in front of the same building as shown above. This is on Hamilton Avenue directly across from the main office.  News story on big plans for 1941.

Same location as "Staehli" only a 1931 Series 90 sedan.

Series 121.

This 1929 "Silver Anniversary" Buick has a Buick script stamping on the hood side. I've never seen another like this,...maybe a show car or prototype?

Building Early Buicks.

This is a very interesting painting showing either an early work shop or assembly of Buick's. My guess is assembly because of the overhead belt drive. "Very well done".

The Girls Of Buick No.11 1920.

This view in front of the engine plant #11 we are facing east towards Division Street. Beyond Division is the new foundry #20. This is on Oakland Street which was later changed to Leith Street.

A closeup of the photo above. Their names are: Rhoda Coates, Clarice Barger, Lillian Bennett, Agnes Darts, Edyth Beals, Lillian O'Toole, Hazel Clarke, Dayna Harrison, Rose Barrow and Hazel W., I figure Hazel owned this card and did not find it necessary to include her last name.

First Buick Plant In Flint.

A well known photo of the first Buick plant in Flint, Michigan. Original photo taken by: Guy A. Gaines Click here for 1904 view.

September 19, 1903. 

Enlargement of the photo above showing an automobile sitting in front of the test shed on the south side of the factory.

 Links:

The First Buick Workers

Original factory on east Kearsley st.

Original Buick Factory In Flint Michigan

Buick Motor Co.Engine Works

Dr. Hills The Man Who Bought The First Flint Buick

Original Buick Factory In Flint Michigan

Buick Water Test.

This seems like a strange way of testing the engine compartment for moisture related problems. "Things in 1923 seem so quaint now". This is Hamilton Avenue facing west from in front of the Buick Service and Parts plant. The main office is shown in the left background with factory #01 in the right background. The only water test we had here in my time was the "Leak Test" that was looking for water penetrating the passenger and trunk compartment.


Links:
Buick Factory #01.
Buick's Second Main Office.
Hamilton Avenue At Buick
THE FACTORY BEHIND THE CAR

Buick Assembly In St Louis.

A story from “The Accessory And Garage Journal” in 1919, which was explaining all of the 37 million dollar G.M. expansion’s scheduled for 1919. This is just the St Louis, Missouri part of the story.

This is the news about Buick assembly entirely returning to Flint, Michigan.

This photo (from the Buick Research Gallery in Flint, Michigan) shows the combined Buick and Chevrolet assembly plant in St Louis, Missouri in 1920. This was the first joint venture of this kind for General Motors. This first joint operation did not last very long, with all Buick production returning to Flint in 1921. The next such venture was in 1932 at the Linden, New Jersey plant and then in 1936 at the South gate plant in California. The Buick portion of this large plant was eventually taken over by the Fisher Body Co. that started them on their journey of placing their body plants in close proximity to the assembly plant. It would take until 1985 for this to happen with Buick in Flint. This first venture of Buick assembly outside of Flint (not counting the Canadian McLaughlin) came about because of a rail car shortage that had cars being shipped in pieces to Minneapolis, Minnesota and assembled in a warehouse for distribution out west. See Pence Automobile Co. . This idea of sending all parts to another location for assembly appealed to the top men at Buick but the warehouse in Minneapolis did not quite fit the bill. This was why the St Louis assembly idea came about. The St Louis plant was closed in 1987 and was producing trucks at that time.  Link for the Pence factory.  The St. Louis Buick service department here.

W.F. Stewart Factory #4

This story is from the September 1908 issue of the trade journal "The Hub".










I have never posted these two photos before. This photo facing south-west from what appears to be the third floor of Buick factory #01 would be prior to 1907. Notice all the air drying lumber where factory #08 garage will shortly be built. That is Hamilton Avenue running east and west.







This photo facing north-west was taken from the roof of the Stewart plant in 1910.










The corner of Industrial and Hamilton Avenue. This was the plant that built the early Buick open body's. This view is facing south-east from in front of the Industrial Savings Bank. Notice the shadow falling across the west wall of the factory; that is the shadow from the #4 Oak Park fire station.


Links:
Industrial and Hamilton.
Factory #4 Postcard Showing Bank
Weston Mott & Industrial Bank
Industrial & Hamilton Avenue 1915.
Industrial and Hamilton Showing Oak Park Subdivision
The W.F. Stewart Factories In Flint.
W.F. Stewart Factory 4 & Buick Garage #08.
W.F. Stewart Factory #4.
W.F. Stewart Inside + Postcard
Factory #08
HellCat Tank Training & Engineering 1943.
Industrial & Hamilton Avenue 1913

First Iron Poured In Factory #20 Foundry.

November 1915 from Steam magazine.

This unique commemorative plaque from the first "Buick built" foundry #20 is owned by John Stork. I have never seen another of these before. I was excited when John sent me this photo. He does not know of any family connection to the Buick plants in Flint but did state that his Great Grandfather was one of the founders of the short lived Lion Motor Car Company of Adrian, Michigan. Either way we now know the exact date that the foundry went into operation. It is always a treat to have an exact date for when these historic old factories went into production because so much history gets lost and forgotten.


Link for the more common plaques and the Lion history:
Factory #70/#71a The Lion Motor Company Lion Factory Fire






Factory #20 was located at the crossroads of Buick which was Division Street and Leith Street. Division was not open to public traffic and was solely a Buick street. Leith was named Oakland at the time the #20 foundry was built. You can super enlarge just about any photo on this blog for viewing small details. The way this is done is a little different depending on which browser is used.














Click on this page to see and read this story.
















The factory description for this factory never varied from start to finish.


Links:

Factory #20 The Buick Foundry Leith Street Revisited.

Factory #20

Buick 1932

Charles Nash Testing Vehicle

Factory #20 Foundry Inside

Factory #20 Foundry

Michigan Motor Casting Company Factory #70 Raw Casting

Factory #70 Before 1953

Factory #70 Core Room

Block Grinding In Factory #70

Factory #70 Engine Block Pouring

Factory #70 POTS

Factory #70

Leftovers From The 2011 Demolition.

Buick Powertrain North Site Demolition

Attack On Flint History Again

FLINT, MI -- The list of things that criminals in Flint will steal sometimes feels as if it is bounded only by their imagination, and now there’s one more thing we can add to that list: our history.

Brett Carlsen | MLive.comBroken glass litters the floor of the Genesee County Historical Society inside the Durant-Dort Building in Flint. While only $40-$50 were stolen, original glass windows were broken and the offices inside were left in shambles.

Thieves broke into the historic Durant-Dort Building on the corner of Water and Mason streets Wednesday night.

Read up on the building's history

They were able to make off with about $40-$50 in loose change and petty cash from the building’s occupants, but a price can’t be put on the damage they did inside of the building.

David White, president of the Durant-Dort Carriage Co. Foundation, said the thieves destroyed the etched glass inside of the building, which was originally installed when the building was constructed in the late 1800s.

“It’s irreplaceable,” said White. “They just don’t make that kind of glass with that craftsmanship.”

The Durant-Dort office building, 316 Water St., was built in 1895-96 and was the home of the Durant-Dort Carriage Co. It served as a focal point for Billy Durant and J. Dallas Dort's promotional activities in the carriage and automobile business.

It was also the place where Durant came up with the idea of General Motors.

Now, the building is home to the Genesee County Historical Society and area attorneys.

Attorney Daniel Andoni, whose office has been at the building for the past four years, said the historical impact of the damage wasn’t lost on him.

“This is where Billy Durant founded General Motors,” Andoni said.

White said the building’s alarm company reported the break-in but officers did not arrive on the scene until this morning when a secretary refused to enter the building until it was checked out.

While White said he knows Flint’s police are forced to prioritize calls, he said it feels like regular, tax-paying citizens and businesses are left to fend for themselves.

“We pay a lot of money in taxes and the police don’t come because they’re out dealing with another shooting,” said White.

White said the building has also been repeatedly victimized because the area has been without streetlights for nearly eight years.

The streetlights are owned by the city and the city has not allowed private entities to pay to repair a damaged electrical line, said White.

Courtesy Photo | Daniel AndoniGlass litters the floor of an upstairs office at the historic Durant-Dort Building.

Kay Muhammad, the city’s transportation administrator, said the problem isn’t that simple.

Typically, Consumers Energy owns the street lights in the city, but when the project to rehabilitate Water Street was undertaken decorative lights were installed. Muhammad said the street lights were placed on a mixture of public right of way and private property and no plans or funding were included for maintenance on the lights.

Muhammad said the city is aware of the problem and working to find who owns the lights and find a solution. However, she said getting the lights turned back on would require a “massive project” that won’t be completed overnight.

She also denied that the city would refuse private funding to help fix the situation.

“We need to assure there is appropriate lighting,” Muhammad said.

So far, according to White, the building has had metal stolen from its air conditioning units, irrigation systems and spot lights in front of the building. It has also replaced five air conditioning units that were stolen in the past three years.

“We pay our taxes and we can’t get any help down there,” said White. By Gary Ridley | gridley@mlive.com Links:

Carriage Town Factories. Durant-Dort Factories East of Saginaw Street. State historic marker

Sit-Down Strike marker defaced