1906 Buick.

This north-east view  from 1906 shows all the same structures shown below. This photo was taken from the roof of the Stewart #4 body assembly factory. Hamilton Avenue is in the foreground.  Links: 

Factory #04 Collage  Oak Park Power Company  The W.F. Stewart Factories In Flint.  Buick Factory #01.  Factory #06 Assembly  The Weston-Mott Factories At Buick  Industrial & Hamilton Avenues  Oak Park Entrance 1934 - 2001.

Buick during 1906 shows a  field of stumps yet to be removed. The photographer would have been standing where the future Oak Park entrance to Buick City would be located. This south-east view shows from left to right: factories #06 assembly, #01 paint and transmission, Oak Park Power Company, Weston-Mott axle assembly partially blocking the Stewart #4 body assembly. 

This north view may have been taken the same day as the view above. From left to right is the Oak Park subdivision along Industrial Avenue, Weston-Mott axle assembly, Oak Park Power Company and #01 paint and transmission. Notice that this postcard and the one above are from the same company using the same font.                                                                                      

This was how many workers lived at that time.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Click on page below for story and photos of early Flint.

Buick City Site Has life Once Again.

Leonard Thygesen as always is still on the job documenting the Buick site.

The road in the foreground is Pierson Road which was the northern most boundary  of the Buick property.

This is the site of the former factory #38 Warehouse. Links:  American Cast Iron  

Building #38 Warehouse

Early Buick Assembly.

This staged photo from the Buick assembly plant in Flint, Michigan shows what I believe is a 1909 Marquette Buick. I think the auto directly behind this one is a model 10 with a surrey top. The back light (rear window) design on the model 10 was used from 1907-1909; so this photo is narrowed to those years anyways.  I can't say what the auto in the rear (facing) is. I would  certainly say this is in factory #06. The men posed for this photo sure look familiar to me but I'm not sure of their identity's. The large gentleman ( second from left) resembles the Buick racing team manager William Pickens.

Bob Burman at the Indianapolis race in 1909. According to the book "Seventy Years Of Buick" by George Dammann this was one of 3 modified model 17's entered in this particular race. Notice the Vibrator (coils) mounted on the dash just above the steering column; This is shown farther below; noted with the red line. The coil used here appears to have wires exiting from the top and bottom. 

This unit on an original 1909 Buick looks like a heavy duty unit that would be used on a racing machine.  Time Capsule 1909 Buick.

I have looked for other photos from this time period trying to determine the standard mounting procedure used for the vibrator on these special Buick's. This is the only one I have found that resemble each other. Does this mean these two racers are one in the same? That would be interesting if proven but I will not make that judgment. Notice the Remy unit (below) 
on another 1909 Buick racer in the Indianapolis museum. It has what looks like bronze mounting straps. Some of the company's making coil units at that time are:  K-W, Duplex, Lemke, Kingston, Heinze, Remy, Jefferson Electric, Detroit Coil, Atwater Kent, Bosch, Auto Coil, National and Perkins.  

 There were numerous company's making these back then.  The Remy units were first used at Buick in 1905. Remy lost their business with Buick in 1911 at which time Remy and the Delco company merged thus creating the Delco and Remy company. This control switch was for changing connection from battery to magneto for the spark. The button is for the seldom used cold start or free start The button is for the Acetylene starter. You pull a button or handle on the dash, which injected Acetylene (used for headlamps) into the cylinders, then when you turned the switch for battery and pushed the button it fired the coils and theoretically started the engine. It is said that many engines blew apart using this starting procedure.. Other names for this unit were: trembler or buzz-coil.   Links: Delco Remy History  

Marquette - Buick A.C. On Industrial Avenue and the Buick Bug. Buick Racing Team 

 1914.

War Production At Buick.

A cover shot from the aviation publication "Flying" June 1943. A box of these and other war time magazines came into my possession recently. This and others made reference to the Buick plants in Flint and Melrose Park and their contributions to winning the war.

Rear cover.

Link: 

World War II Archeology in England

Melrose Park work on the loom.  Link: 

Buick At It's Battle Stations

Hamilton Avenue Views 1907.

Lookin north from the south side of Hamilton Avenue from in front of Stewart factory #4 body shop.

Main Office Building First & Second

Facing north-east from the intersection of Hamilton and Industrial Avenues. Weston-Mott office on left with Buick office on the right with Buick's factory #01.

The Weston-Mott Factories At Buick

Buick City Training Diploma.

This shows my one time committee man Harold Blakley as the union rep. and Wayne Elowsky as the Buick City rep. Harold played drums in a long time country band from the Flint area. I once bought his Public address system that he used to mic. his drums for all those years. I just recently sold it to my son in-law. Wayne was one of my first supervisors when I joined the materials group in 1975. He is mentioned elsewhere in this blog. This training took place in several Flint area schools and Buick City over the summer of 1985.

Fordite Jewelry.

I posted a story on this same thing being done at Buick's paint shop factory #11 located on the third floor of factory #04. I love coincidence because I just got this article out of Hemmings Muscle Machines May 2014 issue and am posting it exactly six years later to the day.  Link: for the original story from April 2, 2008 at lower left. Open images in a new tab and enlarge for reading.

Factory #04/11-14

Links: Web2Carz   About Us  New York Times  Raw Fordite

Cindy Dempsey  

Key chain from the old paint department on the third floor of factory #04.

Factory #36 South.

An old photo of the south truck dock of the Buick engine plant #36. I did not like it when the name changed from BUICK MOTOR DIVISION. This is a Leonard Thygesen photo. Location of photo shown here.  
View Larger Map  Links: 

December 25, 2010 Buick Demolition Last Remnant Of Factory #36 Powertrain Flint North expected to end all production Friday, shutting down last plant at historic Buick City site 

Jackie Gleason Comes To Buick Assembly.

Link: 

Celebrities At Buick Jackie at Linden New Jersey assembly plant.

Seasons Greetings

This is the Seasons Greetings from the old Powerhouse #07 at the Buick complex. It is now proudly displayed by Buick documentary film maker Leonard Thygesen.  MERRY CHRISTMAS! Link: 

Leonard Thygesen  Powerhouse #07 Leonard Thygesen Demolition Videos and Buick Prints.