Flint Photos: McLaren Hospital in the Fifties

Photo by Mary Fisher. View some of her other photos of Flint in the fifties here and here.

Flint Postcards: Aerial View of McLaren Hospital

Flint Photos: Howard Bragman on Sheffield Avenue

Flint Expatriate and public relations expert Howard Bragman was back in Flint last week and had a chance to visit his childhood home on Sheffield Avenue near McLaren Hospital. It has to be a great feeling when the old homestead is looking so good.

Flint Postcards: McLaren Hospital

My mom worked in the admitting office at McLaren for many years. She could sometimes pull a few strings and get you private room if you wanted it. I loved having lunch and milkshakes at the dimly lit little diner/coffee shop just off the main lobby. Our family befriended a lot of the foreign residents from Peru, Saudi Arabia and various other exotic locales. I've often wondered what your vision of America would be like if Flint was your only exposure to the country. (A lot of these guys played soccer with my brother in the Flint summer leagues, bringing some skill to an extremely rough brand of soccer that often resembled hockey or football more than futbal.) And I even got to visit the morgue once with my mom, where I discovered they really do have toe-tags on the bodies.

The Tiles revealed

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The Tiles, now painted white, is in the center of the map just off River Valley Drive. McLaren Hospital is to the east.


Gerry Godin solves the mystery of The Tiles:

"This was where you went to prove your bravery in the '60s.

"My friends and I were not that stupid; if you fell off while crossing you would either kill yourself or be maimed for life.

This was the main sewer line for the city of Flint running all the way to the waste treatment plant located off Beecher Road. There is now a subdivision located next to the Black pipe, but this was all field in the '60s. I've recently seen a picture of it but can't remember where. We always heard the legend about the kid who crossed it on a bike but that would have been impossible due to the large joints which protruded outward. I walked out about twenty feet on it before turning back, so I guess I was a little ignorant.

"As far as exploring the city sewers, that was easy — just find the outlet and crawl in and follow it until you had enough. I got chewed out for this because a neighbor kid broke out in hives because he had claustrophobia. I even set up a camp in one junction line near Flushing road. When we found this spot it looked like a homeless person (called bums then) had left their dirty magazines behind. The woman who just died in that trailer fire off Pasedena in Flint who was wheelchair bound was one of our group. Her name was Judy VanHouten. We used her "Give A Show Projector" to light our way and also show an occasional slide show.

"The farthest we ever got going up the sewer lines was about a half mile because straddling the flowing water and being bent over was rough even for a kid. In some locations near the Eldorado Vista subdivision, you could actually see into people's basements. Can you imagine looking into you drain in your basement and see someone looking back? Some city friends said there was a larger entrance near the Chevy plant that you could even ride your bike into but I never seen it.

"We used to get there by going west beyond the church across from McLaren hospital but it can now be reached through the subdivision off of Beecher Road."

Walking to the bank

Take a spill on one of Flint's sidewalks and you can expect a decent payout from the city, according to Joe Lawlor of The Flint Journal:

City of Flint payouts for defective sidewalk claims

1999: $359,543
2000: $18,000
2001: $242,500
2002: $74,500
2003: $170,300
2004: $147,000
2005: $59,500
2006: $89,157
2007: $138,500
2008 (year-to-date): $15,000

Just don't assume you can just stroll into a local hospital to get medical care if you need it after the fall:

The county's three hospitals have been closed to incoming ambulances for more than 384 hours combined since Feb. 1, according to Genesee County Medical Control Authority statistics.

Hurley Medical Center and McLaren Regional Medical Center both shut their doors to ambulances early last week due to a packed ER.

And for about 2 1/2 hours last week, all three hospitals were reported closed to incoming ambulances -- at which point patients were transported to the nearest hospital available, despite overflowing ERs.