Monday, August 27, 2012

Durant Hotel in the Fifties


Another great shot of Flint in the fifties by Mary Fisher, originally posted September 3, 2008. In addition to the Hotel Durant, the Flint Tavern Hotel, boasting "400 Rooms/Air Conditioned Restaurant," is visible on the left, behind a sign urging Flint to "Vote Republican/Vote IKE all the way!" and promoting "Fred M. Alger for Governor." Note the streetcar electric lines overhead.

at 2:07 PM
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9 comments:

  1. theChurchGuySeptember 3, 2008 at 8:23 PM

    Thanks, Mary and Gordie! I'm loving these pictures!

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  2. AnonymousAugust 27, 2012 at 11:44 AM

    THE LINES WERE FOR TROLLYS, NOT STREET CARS.

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  3. Gordon YoungAugust 27, 2012 at 11:57 AM

    Not going to use all caps, but according the National Capital Trolly Museum, streetcar is just another name for a trolly. They are also called trams in some places. And the Flintoids I know who were around then call them streetcars, although I'm sure plenty called them trollies.
    http://www.dctrolley.org/faqs.htm

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  4. Gordon YoungAugust 27, 2012 at 12:05 PM

    Ah, but by the fifties did Flint have what are called "trolly coaches" in San Francisco...buses with wheels but hooked up to the overhead lines? Probably because the fixed tracks were gone by then. Most people in SF just call them buses, and the term streetcar or trolly is used for the fixed track vehicles.

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  5. AnonymousAugust 27, 2012 at 5:25 PM

    I GREW UP IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA IN TH 50'S. WE CALLED THEM ELECTRIC BUSSES.

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  6. Gary FlinnAugust 27, 2012 at 6:56 PM

    If you look at my book "Remembering Fling, Michigan," it has a chapter on Flint's trolley lines. They were originally streetcars until 1936 when they switched to trolley buses. Trolley buses were replaced by diesel buses in 1956. The chapter is called "When Msss Transit Used Electricity."

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  7. Gordon YoungAugust 27, 2012 at 7:46 PM

    Hey Gary, I knew this discussion sounded familiar. I've got your book right in my living room bookshelf.

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  8. AnonymousAugust 28, 2012 at 9:45 AM

    Thr Durant had the most beautiful cocktale lounge I have ever seen in my life.

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  9. Homestead CrafterAugust 29, 2012 at 5:39 PM

    I loved the Durant. My great-grandfather on my mom's dad's side used to be the head chef at the Durant-Pick Hotel. In one of her scrapbooks is an article from an old Flint Journal article, complete with photograph, of my Grampa Delmer with a recipe for I believe a glazed ham. My mom used to say that when she was little, the Durant was her sandbox.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.

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