Thursday, March 10, 2011

Flint Photos: 1926 Fire

This photo from April 23, 1926 shows the State Theatre with a fire in the background. I'm sure someone out there can fill us in on what was burning.



4 comments:

  1. A long forgotten memory of some sort just said "Heitzner's". Now I wasn't around in 1926, and I don't know if that is right. It just seems like something I heard when I was a kid. unclebuck? JWilly? Liz Baker? Do you remember hearing anything like that?

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  2. That looks to be "The Dryden Building" that is on fire (601 S. Saginaw St., Corner of Saginaw and 2nd St.).

    Here is a bad picture of the same side of the building as in the 1926 photo:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eridony/2632527086/

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  3. I think Heitzner's was in what is now called the Dryden Building. The name Dryden Building also came to me later last night. As I recall, the building had 5 floors, at least reached by the elevator. It seems like there was a lobby that was separate from what was on the first floor, which was Heitzner's at one time. It looks like 5 or 6 stories from the picture.

    Does anyone know what Heitzner's sold? Seems like it was linens or something like that.

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  4. The word millenery also comes to mind in association with Heitzner's. That word is associated with the sales and production of primarily women's hats.

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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.