Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Flint Postcards: W.A. Patterson House



8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. when was this house torn down, or is it the one on the north east corner?

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  3. What is there now? Online maps should include historical street names. When was this house torn down? With so many historical districts in so many other towns, including in Michigan, why wasn't this preserved? I seem to remember this house, but in an extreme state of disrepair.

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  4. The house is still standing and in great shape, nestled between the YMCA and the YWCA. I stayed there for a week as a guest of the current owners last March. I found out later my mom had been in the house many years earlier to visit a high school friend. I'll dig up some recent exterior shots I have of the house.

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  5. Then it has been restored? I think I would have remembered a well maintained stand alone house like one in Woodlawn Park or Woodcroft Estates if I had seen it. Was it in disrepair for quite a while?

    The elevations of this house are not typical of most classic larger houses, though the circular spires and widow's watches are reminiscent of some new houses being built.

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  6. I would like to see one of your photos Gordy. Maybe the history books are wrong. "I think at least one is". The Postcard series by the Genesee Historical Society shows that particular house sitting on the current site of the YWCA, and lists the address as 310 Third st. Link: http://books.google.com/books?id=pOlyyc17M-oC&pg=PA107&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false If you look at that UN-croped version in the previous Google book link you can see,"what I think" shows the spire of the St. Paul's church in the right background. That would put this house on the south-west corner of Third and Clifford and not the south-east corner. By the way; Clifford is now Wallenberg st. An 1890 aerial view dose confirm this, but it is after all 'an artists rendition' which I do find quite accurate. Patterson did build a dozen homes in Flint, so maybe you stayed in another of his homes? That would be an interesting find. Here is the Google street view of the house location (including the spire or steeple) in the west background. http://g.co/maps/9prjq What do you think?

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  7. Oops, my bad. Thanks for the clarification, Gerry. I stayed in the Paterson-Sutherland House, located on 3rd and Stevens. Note the spelling...one "t" in Paterson. It's a much smaller house than the one in this postcard.

    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=third+and+wallenberg,+flint+mich&hl=en&ll=43.016015,-83.684889&spn=0.004283,0.009066&sll=43.037529,-83.717312&sspn=0.004313,0.009066&hnear=E+3rd+St+%26+Wallenberg+St,+Flint,+Genesee,+Michigan+48502&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=43.015958,-83.685006&panoid=h5pIrwtVSrhx60lL2yi_kg&cbp=13,141.23,,0,0

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  8. The Paterson mansion was torn down for the Y. There was an article in the Journal at the time. It described the home has using all the best materials...not unusual for the man known as the "architect of Flint".

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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.