Aluminum And Brass Foundry Fire And Explosion 1913.

This is the original photograph from the Buick Research Gallery. This view is facing east with the Pere Marquette main line in the distance.

This view (that I crudely) colorized was for detail purposes during my research.

July 23, 1913.

A view inside the old aluminum and brass foundry at Buick that was known as #15. This building was attached at the north end of the #03 forge plant. This view is facing south. The angled building (below) with box cars on either side was part of the area destroyed in the 1913 fire. The photo after the fire (At top) shows the area just beyond this angled section. The angled area farthest north does look to be made entirely of wood as Chrysler stated. This view is facing south-west. That is factory #12 at the right. These two photos are from around 1909.

April 16, 1910.

These are articles published in various trade journals of the time following the fire and explosion at the Buick factory on January 17, 1913. In the book "The Life And Times Of An Automotive Genius" by Vincent Curcio (published in 2000), that tells the life story of Walter Chrysler and includes much about the early years at Buick, he places the date of the fire as January of 1917. He states that the article (showing 1917) was from "The Horseless Age" trade journal. I have read that particular article and it is 1913, so it must have been a typo in Vincents book. This information had me more than a bit confused for some time. I'm just glad that this mystery has finally been solved. They did not rebuild at this same location as was stated in one of the articles. The posting before this one (the pickling room) shows this area as a steel storage lot. I'm thinking that this was when the brass & aluminum work was moved (temporarily) into factory #12 until the new foundry could be built.

This is from “The Life And Times Of An Automotive Genius” by Vincent Curcio, published in 2000. This book chronicling Walter Chrysler’s life and also early career at Buick is showing an explosion and fire in 1917. The New York Times article says this happened in 1913.

 Link: Aluminum And Brass Foundry Fire And Explosion 1913.  News from 1925 explaining heat treat at Buick. 1913 fire

This angled building with the box cars on either side was the area destroyed in the 1913 fire. This angled area which is the north-end of the forge building does look to be made entirely of wood as Chrysler stated. This view is facing south-west. That is factory #12 at the right.

This 1917 advertisement is supposedly Buick. After much study I think the area to the left in the photo  above this one (between #03 & #12) That could be factory #11 in the background. That would make this a north facing view.

Pickling Room Building #64.

This view facing south-west from Division Street shows the factory #03 forge plants north-end. The light colored brick building at the right is the Pickling room (bldg.#64) for the forge. Pickling is a chemical process for removing rust or scale from metal. That is part of the steel yard in the foreground. This area in my time would be occupied by building #12c. Where the pickling room is located would be the rail dock for factory #12 in the distant future. This photo is dated October 1, 1924.

1916

This view of the Pickling room is facing north-east. One of the Buick powerhouse (#14) smoke stacks can be faintly seen over the building. These photos are from the Buick research Gallery.

 Links: Liberty Crankshaft March 1919

Original Forge #03 Before And After 1913 Fire.

A 360 degree View from Division Street.

This shows the location of the buildings shown below in this 360 degree presentation.

Facing south-east at factory #40. The building at the left attached to #40 was at this time a heat treat facility known as #41. In my time it was cleaned up and remodeled into a place for meetings and presentations. The remaining photos in order has you rotating clockwise.

Facing south-west at factory #09.

Facing north-west at factory #03.

Facing north-east at factory #02.

Facing east at the gasoline filling station. This photo is from Don Bent's book. The rest are from the Buick Research Gallery.

Buick Gasoline Filling Station

This photo is from the Buick factory publication "THE FACTORY BEHIND THE CAR". This structure was originally intended for the Buick drive away program and was designated as #09. The original photo was taken on October 13, 1920. I used this photo because the one at the Buick Research Gallery is torn in half. (see better one in posting above) This would be the structure where the photographs in the previous post were taken from. You are facing east from Division Street. That is factory #02 train shed and rail shipping department at the rear.

Buick 1931 And Just For Fun.

You don't get this opportunity very often -- having two, almost identical photographs from the same time. "So have fun and find the differences between the two". For enlargement: 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.

This photo shows Division Street looking north in 1931. The factory with all the open windows is the forge plant #03. North of that is the structure for the overhead crane of the steel yard. At the right is the cooling pond for the Powerhouse #14. This photo was probably taken from the roof of the gasoline filling station #09 built in 1919. The cars in the foreground are the top of the line new Series 60, 7 passenger sedans for 1930. Link: 1931 Buick transmission story. Another transmission story.   These two photos are from the Buick Research Gallery in Flint, Michigan.

Factory #29 Tool Factory.

Factory #29 and #30 construction announcement.

A map showing the location of factory #29 and #23 with the surrounding facilities in 1953.

The employee (Ward Smith) who sent along this photo of factory #29 employees lists the people shown as: I will name them from left to right with their job.

Seated:

Clyde Porter Time keeper

W. Richardson General Foreman

Fred Payne Lathe Supervisor

Ted Decourval Night Supt.

Ernie Martin Supt.

Darrell Diem Asst Supt.

Tom Bowers General Foreman days

Bill Pemberton Asst. Supt

Harvey Theodore Process Engineer

Standing

Ralph Hicks Process Engineer no necktie

Bill Lloyd Grinding Supervisor He also was founder and owner of Lloyd Tool Co on Saginaw St.

Chester Glowski Supervisor Heat treat nights

John Hrinevich Heat treat days

Bill McCormick supervisor Chrome Plating

Fred Wise Supervisor Night

Francis Rogers Supervisor assembly

Harry Selley Supervisor assembly night

Ronald Schoeppach Supervisor Boring mills days

Al Hilliker Supervisor Milling dept days

Ford Lavene Supervisor shaper dept days

Ronald Hutchinson Supervisor boring mills night

Bob England Time keeper no necktie

Vern Smith Assembly area

Duane Johnson Mill dept nights

Brahm Ward Buick"s Band director (no necktie) hourly mill dept

Auburn Lewis Supervisor surface grind supervisor nights.

The only one still living that I know for sure is Theodore. There could be more. Fred Wise died in late 08 as did Hutchinson.

These men ran the business with iron hands. Any one who ever worked in this plant will agree to that. 

Cleanliness was utmost. All the walls and machines were painted two shades of green. The idea of an earlier Supt who believed it was conducive to productivity.

Braham Ward was a very colorful, talented musician. He directed a large brass band performing at Buick functions and elsewhere. He had the freedom to roam all over Buick

The employee who sent along this photo and the one above says: My name is Ward Smith and I worked in Factory #29 for 32 years, starting on Feb. 1 1960. 25 of those years were on supervision. As you probably know, #29 was a tool manufacturing plant, started in the early 1920s. It was, like many “skilled trades” areas in Buick, sorta closed off from “Main Buick”. We operated as almost an independent tool shop and had to bid for our work with outside shops. I retired in 1992 and still have a great loyalty to the Buick name. My father was also a, “dyed in the wool” Buick employee, starting in the 1930s and retiring in 1973. He was an active participant in the battle to recognize the union in 1937 and has never tolerated any negative talk about the union. The following is Wards description of factory #23: Building #23 was right next door to #29 with a concrete storage pad running between the buildings. there was a railroad siding and loading dock on the east side that ran into the main line running north and south along division st. It was on the east side of 29 and built in the 1950s for a castings inspection for #03. Originally small castings were inspected there and loaded onto railroad cars and shipped. After we, (#29) took it over we built a covered ramp between the two buildings and eventually our inspection and shipping dept. were located there. Also our Heat treat and Machine Repair/Machine Rebuild was located there. We started using the building while I was still on my apprenticeship in the very early 60s. Building #23 was built in 1945.

As always just click on any photo for a larger view. This view showing the original height of #29 is from October 18, 1920. The heat treat facility building #55 is at the right. Photo taken from in front of factory #16 across Leith Street. Photo from Buick Research Gallery.

Factory #29 viewed from the intersection of Industrial Avenue and Leith Street. I'm not sure what the little white shed east of the guard shack is for. "Maybe a fueling station"? Photo from Buick Research Gallery.

This view is from the south showing #29 after it's 3rd floor addition. This photo is dated March 13, 1924. You can see a piece of the heat treat at the left and the engine factory #11 at the right in the distance. "If there is one thing I've learned since researching these original (untouched) photos is that Buick always was a messy and unorganized place to work". The photos meant for publication were always touched up and I just assumed that this was just "busy work" for the photographic department. I now know that management really did not want people seeing what really went on. The same was true in my years there. "I should have know that some things never change". The old building #80 was located at one time just south of #29 in this location and was used for die storage. Photo from Buick Research Gallery.

This east facing view shows some kind of construction work going on near #29 in later years. I believe this shows the construction of #12-a built in 1938? From the Buick Research Gallery.

Factory #29 getting it's third floor. From Don Bent's book, and as noted it is credited to another of our small factory history group: Kevin Kirbitz.

This is the heat treat building for #29 located between factory #12 and #29. This structure was built in 1920. This photo during construction is dated October 8, 1920. This view is from the north. Factory #29 partially seen at the left is still a two story building at this time. At the extreme south can be seen factory #05. Photo from the Buick Research Gallery.

Inside factory #29. According to Don Bent "this factory was originally built to do work for the 8 cylinder Liberty aircraft engine". But as with factory #27-- built exclusively for that purpose, the war ended before production could begin. Built in 1918 this factory's central location on the Buick property made it a good location for special tool work. This building was torn down with the rest of the factory's south of Leith Street by 2002. This photo is dated November 20, 1918. This is from Don Bent's book.

 Links: Leith Street Revisited. Buick City Building Designations Factory #12 2002 -2008 Factory #29 1922 Factory #29 WWI Ambulance Factory #27 The "Liberty Engine" Plant

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