An Auto Factory...German Style

Funny, no mention of drinking in the parking lot during breaks.

The Mystery of the House and the Factory

Can you name this street and this factory?

Tell us where to find this room with a view.

Where's this house?

So you think you know Flint? Expatriate and current New Yorker Shawn Chittle has offered up a challenge to readers. These screen shots were taken from a 16mm movie shot in 1977 in the Vehicle City. Where is this street? Where is this factory? And where is this house?

Shawn has a few ideas, but let's see what you can come up with. This is sort of an industrial version of the Mystery Shots by Mary Fisher post a while back.

Update:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a neighborhood behind AC..... unclebuck Pitkin??

November 23, 2009 9:36 AM

Gerry Godin said...

I believe that is Mathewson and Bluff st, showing the building that was used as a parts warehouse in the 70's. I also think it was used for Chevy Personnel. I hired in at that building. The water tower is located at the powerhouse on the Flint River at Chevrolet ave. On Google maps that house is still standing.

November 23, 2009 9:11 AM

Anonymous said...

Is it Cadillac St. facing Bluff right behind the GMI apartments. I guess it could be any of those streets down through there, looks like Chevy in the hole though from memory.

November 23, 2009 9:13 AM

Anonymous said...

This is embarrassing. I worked at Chevy parts in the hole in the sixties and didn't even catch the locale. My memory must be fading fast...unclebuck PS. The four factories I worked at,- I thought were indelibly etched in my mind.

November 23, 2009 10:58 AM

grumkin said...

My guess: one of those side streets between W. Court and Glenwood Ave. (ie. Fox, Thayer, Hazleton)....

November 23, 2009 11:27 AM

Cooley's Dictum said...

I think anonymous has it right. Look at the change in the color of the street pavement -- reddish to grayish -- as if from brick to blacktop. While Mathewson (named for surveyor Stephen Mathewson, by the way) also runs south from 3rd to Bluff, parallel to Cadillac -- Cadillac was, into contemporary times, brick north of 3rd. Mathewson, as near as I can remember, was never brick. ( ...though, I will, of course, defer to Gerry or any Mathewson resident.)

November 23, 2009 12:34 PM

Tom Wirt said...

I think it's Chevy in the Hole, on Bluff Street, viewed from Cadillac Street in the first photo, and from Mathewson Street in the third photo. The room with a view must be near the corner of Mathewson & Bluff.

Here is a photo of the Chevrolet building on Bluff Street taken in 1995:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92726077@N00/4129109814/in/set-72157594414829203/

Here is a more recent photo of the Mathewson & Bluff Street area:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92726077@N00/3652865723/in/set-72157594414829203/

November 23, 2009 12:57 PM

A Further Update:


View Larger Map

Here's a Google Map looking down Mathewson toward Bluff. That looks a lot like the house in the photo on the right. Notice the porch post if you zoom in on it.

Another Update: Mystery Solved

Shawn Chittle says:

YOU GUYS NAILED IT! I had my suspicions it was near Cadillac & Bluff Streets but your confirmation is all I needed. Great Google map that is exactly the house. Wow. Just wow.

I worked at the Chevy-In-The-Hole factory summers 1992-1994, well it was one of my runs along with every other GM factory back then. I was a document courier. We called Chevy "AC West." and the one on Center Road "AC East."

Being a dumb, stupid, kid I didn't know how historical or significant the place was. I was just trying to get out of Flint as fast as possible.

These photos are screen caps from a movie called "With Babies & Banners" a 1977 Academy Award nominated movie about the Sit Down Strike as told from the Women's Auxiliary Brigade. 1977 was the height of the ERA movement and this film certainly bolstered the idea these women were not to be messed with.

They wore berets, armbands, and carried slapjacks, wooden sticks and took sh** from no one. They fought with the police, GM security, and were captured in "Roger & Me" smashing the factory windows out when GM gassed the workers. Without them the Strike might not have been won.

Their fearless (literally, fearless) leader, Genora Johnson, is someone who, after discovering and reading more about, has rapidly moved to the top of my "coolest people who ever lived" list.

Her book "Not Automatic" is required reading and is available at Amazon.com

Remember the little kids striking with the signs? Remember in particular the little 2 year old that had a sign that read "Our Daddy Strikes For Us Little Tykes" that was Jarvis Johnson, Genora's two year old son. He died in a car accident a few years after that photo was taken.

I have "With Babies & Banners" on DVD - it was never released to the public. It's beyond belief and one of my most prized possessions.

It's a very emotional, heart-wrenching film, and parts of the movie are too hard to watch. It will choke you up big time.

Thanks again Gordie for the venue and to everyone for your time!

More mysteries to come...

The Future of Buick City

After a rousing and, at times, bizarre discussion of environmental degradation and the future of Flint's abandoned factory sites, comes this article by Melissa Burden in The Flint Journal:

Officials have said that an unnamed investor wants to transform the about 220-acre Buick City site into a multimillion dollar rail-to-rail and rail-to-truck intermodal facility, creating up to 600 jobs, plus construction jobs.

"Our hard work may be lost if we don't resolve the brownfield issue," said Tim Herman, chief executive officer of the chamber, which along with other area leaders has spent hundreds of hours on the Buick City project over the past three years.

Herman said at issue is who will have the environmental responsibility going forward on the site. Often times when someone buys an industrial property, the environmental liability transfers to the new owner, Herman said.

"It's not fair to have someone who wants to use this property ... and have him taking on all that environmental responsibility," said Bill Winiarski, chairman of the Genesee County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.

Strangely, there was no mention of how Star Trek episodes might play a role in the redevelopment projects. (You have to read the first post linked above for this hilarious comment to make any sense.)

Flint Photos: Chevy in the Hole

Chevy in the Hole photographed from the Atwood Stadium parking lot during my recent visit to Flint.

Chevy in the Hole photographed from Bluff Street in 1995 by Jar with Most, who has a great collection of Flint photos.

G.M. Announces Cuts and Closures

Here's a list of the plants and facilities affected by G.M.'s "accelerated manufacturing plan to improve capacity utilization and flexibility." (Perhaps they can find some PR flaks who write a bit better during the bankruptcy.)

June 1, 2009 U.S. GM Manufacturing Optimization Plan Actions

Plant	Status / Timing (date listed or sooner depending on market demand)
Assembly
Orion, Mich.	Standby Capacity - September 2009
Pontiac, Mich.	Close - October 2009
Spring Hill, Tenn.	Standby Capacity - November 2009
Wilmington, Del.	Close - July 2009
Stamping
Grand Rapids, Mich.	Close - June 2009 (previously announced)
Indianapol, Ind.	Close - December 2011
Mansfield, Ohio	Close - June 2010
Pontiac, Mich.	Standby Capacity - December 2010
Powertrain
Livonia Engine, Mich.	Close - June 2010
Flint North Components, Mich.	Close - December 2010
Willow Run Site, Mich.	Close - December 2010
Parma Components, Ohio	Close - December 2010
Fredericksburg Components, Virg.	Close - December 2010
Massena Castings, N.Y.	Closed - May 1, 2009 (previously announced)
Service & Parts Operations (SPO) Warehousing & Parts Distribution Centers
Boston, Mass.	Close – December 31, 2009
Jacksonville, Fla.	Close – December 31, 2009
Columbus, Ohio	Close – December 31, 2009

Flint Postcards: Chevrolet Motor Co.

Let's Harken Back to a Time When Americans Bought Buicks and Moose Heads Adorned Corporate Offices

Although this looks like the study where Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories, it's actually the old office of the Buick president and general manager. Not sure if the moose head was standard or if you had to really go out and shoot it.

I always feel like a slacker when I visit Gerry Godin's All Things Buick blog. I tend to go for the quick hits on a topic, hoping that readers can fill in the gaps and not point out too many of my errors. (Translation: I'm kind of lazy.) Gerry takes a more authoritative approach and covers things in depth. I spend way too much time at his site, often reading about factories that are only memories now.

Right now he has high quality, easily readable scans of an amazing book called The Factory Behind the Car: An Illustrated Story of the Immense Manufacturing Organization that Builds Buick Valve-in Head Motor Cars.

Clearly, Buick likes to do things big, even book titles. And if you don't think too much about how things have changed, it's a fun read.