  Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1442 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
Wonderful scholarship here. Thanks. jjaba, Westsider loving it all. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1445 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
GRAHAM-PAIGE HISTORICAL NOTES After ending their association with Dodge upon its acquisition by Chrysler Corp., the Graham Brothers, Joseph, Ray, and Robert launched their Graham-Paige automobile at the New York Auto Show in 1928. The lavish affair featured boxer Gene Tunny and Notre Dame football coach, Knute Rockne. In model year 1928, the Graham-Paige set a new car record production of 73,195 exceeding the previous mark set by the new Pontiac in 1926. In 1930, the word "Paige" was dropped in favor of a Graham car. As the Great Depression set in, sales dropped like a rock off a cliff. Ray Graham commited suicide in 1932. The company fought back with advanced styling and supercharged engines. It was a stout, substantial vehicle. Their innovations be damned, Graham quit building cars in 1940. When Auburn folded, dies for the Buehrig Cord were adapted by Graham for its 1940 Hollywood Model and by Hupmobile down the street for its 1941 Skylark. These were the last great gasps for these nameplates. Graham-Paige still survived as part of Kaiser-Frazer Autos. Joseph W. Frazer was president of Graham-Paige. The Dodge Beothers pissed and moaned at each other and with Graham-Paige, then both died in 1920. The widows asked Frederick Haynes, the manager of Dodge Main in Hamtramck, to run the Dodge empire. Under Haynes, Dodge continued to grow and acquired Graham Trucks in 1925. This became Dodge Trucks and the 3 Graham Bros. worked for Haynes. But the Grahams wanted to build their own cars and left. Of interest, was Mervyn Manlove Millikan, a top Graham-Paige dealer out of Altoona, Pa. Miilikan Motors, 1314 12th Ave., Altoona, Pa. had 40 agencies spread out from New York to the Maryland line. On special occasions, a Graham brother would make an appearance to celebrate their new lines. Their ads read: "See how 50 miles an hour feels like 38. Drive a new Graham-Paige today." jjaba | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bate Member Username: Bate Post Number: 19 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 4.247.134.3 |
31Ford, I'm in Sarasota on the gulf coast. When I Go to Detroit on Buisnes I freeze my a** off. My idea of winter in January is 50-60 degrees not 5-10. Sven, I have also have additional addresses. I'll combine your list with mine on a updated post. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sven1977 Member Username: Sven1977 Post Number: 23 Registered: 04-2004 Posted From: 209.220.229.254 |
Mikem, I found out that the building at 5757 Trumbull is an old stove factory. My company works with Iron Mountain and somebody there knew that much but that's all. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1275 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
Interesting. Well, Detroit was the stove capital! I was just in that neck of the woods. I discovered this one from the first page at 2760 W Warren was Bowen Products, makers of miscellaneous auto parts.  I have C. M. Burton's 1922 "The City of Detroit" a history of Detroit to that point. He has a detailed chapter on Detroit industry with the names and addresses of many firms, which I'll post later. I drove by a few today: Edmunds & Jones Corp, 4440 Lawton @ Buchanan, makers of auto headlights and lamps, speedometers, connectors, and other electric parts. Est 1916. Not sure if the large foundry type building (2nd below) east of it is a seperate business:   Speaking of foundries, here is Detroit Motor Casting Co on the eastside, 1067 Beaufait @ E Lafayette, est 1906. One of the few older looking industrial buildings around town:   On the next street over, at 1111 Bellevue , is the Standard Motor Truck Co, in great shape from 1912:  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1276 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
AIW, here's what is left of Fisher 18 (Fleetwwod) with that do-hicky (how do you spell do-hicky?) on top. After doing all that research, I can clearly remember the Fleetwood sign on the side of the factory while driving by on I-75. It was torn down in 1993 and I wasn't in the neighborhood much at that time, so I had forgotten about it.  Did they jsut make Fleetwood bodies here or did they assemble them here as well? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3435 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 209.216.150.127 |
Thanks for the picture Mike. Is that looking South? Does it look to be related to the Truck yard? The produce terminal over there is quite the building, as well as a beautiful Art Deco Bell Building on the north side of Fort. Did you shoot those too? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1277 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
Yes, looking south across Fort at 7937 W Fort. It has the name of a warehouse company on the fence but I can't remember it. It's across (east) West End from the container lot where the main plant was. It could be related, but who knows? I didn't get the terminal, but I do have the Vinewood switching office from earlier (I have all Detroit Bell offices, most of which can be seen at http://www.thecentraloffice.co m/MI/MI.htm). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3436 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 209.216.150.127 |
Mike, I featured both as PDJ's in the past. Here's the Bell Building http://internationalmetropolis .com/pdjpages/2004/09/pdj09080 4.htm Produce Terminal http://internationalmetropolis .com/pdjpages/2005/01/pdj01030 5.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 1732 Registered: 02-2004 Posted From: 68.42.77.83 |
There's an old Studebaker plant and the corner of Brush and Piquette go check it out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1281 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
Thanks for the tip Danny! AIW, yes I remember both of those PDJs. SBC has covered the nice "Michigan Bell Telephone" engraving over the door with an "SBC" logo. The streets of Meldrum, Beaufait, and Bellevue parallel the old Belt Line RR tracks from E Jefferson up to the Packard site. There's a nice collection of industry there even though the tracks are gone. Henry Ford even had a brief concern here on Bellevue with his Ford Manufacturing Company, making parts for Piquette and trying to siphon profits from Ford Motor Company, as part of an attempt gain control of his company from Alexander Malcomson (who started a competing firm while still at Ford; Aerocar). This building at 3171 Bellevue is rather insignificant, but I found the Michigan Stamping Co at the top. Michigan Stamping was started in 1901 and had their main plant on Mack at St Jean which, if that sounds familiar, is because Briggs bought Michigan Stamping in 1919.   | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
31ford Member Username: 31ford Post Number: 177 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 152.163.100.195 |
MikeM, Bate, Sven, Aiw, and others: Thanks for posting all the pictures and facts. I have certainly gained a bunch of knowledge from this thread.... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 370 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.14.122.57 |
Thanks, guys!! Lots of new auto-related buildings out there to investigate. I'll have to go through my photos and postcards soon to see if I can add something as there are some buildings that I'm aware of that haven't been mentioned yet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
31ford Member Username: 31ford Post Number: 178 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 152.163.100.195 |
I'd be interested in seeing some different Ford related postcards.. I've got lots of post-worthy non Ford stuff, just have to get past figuring how to downsize below 50kb and still have something worth looking at! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3439 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 209.216.150.127 |
I've still got more stuff to fire on the scanner... Just short of time  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1451 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
Excellent carriage trade archeology being uncovered. The photos are amazing. The rail lines in that Eastside corridor were nine rails wide and it was almost impossible to cross over them. When one or two trains cleared, another would pull through. jjaba remembers waiting on St. Aubin for an eternity one day. As for Fleetwoods on W. Fort, jjaba remembers drivers sitting on orange crates actually driving Cadillacs without coaches down Fort Street between plants. I believe Fleetwoods would send over fully finished coaches on flat bed trucks to be matched up with the chassis for final assembly on Clark St. Always, some tall lean Texan with a ten-gallon hat was watching HIS big flashy Caddy being assembled. He and the Mrs. with the big blue rinse boufant would drive it off the line, and into the sunset heading West to Waco. Recently, jjaba watched GM moving finished Pontiac Coaches in specially designed closed semis from body shop to assembly building in Lansing. They were producing 400,000 Grand Am cars a model yr. that way. There were two parallel final lines running beside each other, 3 shifts, 24/7. The Olds buildings are as old as the ones in Detroit shown above and still cranking. Ofcourse, GM had shitcanned the Oldsmobile badge by then. jjaba Thanks to this fantastic thread. It is one for thr record books. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1282 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
Thanks for supporting my obsessive-compulsive disorder! After this post, I have to take a break for a few days. The post with my Cadillac postcard mentions Leland & Faulkoner. Of course we know that Leland started a machine tool shop in the 1890's and produced steam and gasoline marine engines as well. L&F got a big boost when the Olds factory by the Belle Isle Bridge burned down and they got an order to supply parts and engines to Oldsmobile. One of their engineers designed a better engine than what Olds was using and when the backers of Henry Ford's second company, the Henry Ford Company, forced Ford out, they brought in Leland to run the firm, now renamed the Cadillac Automobile Company, and replaced Ford's engine with Leland's, starting Cadillac's reputation for excellence. When Leland couldn't convince GM, who had purchased Cadillac in 1908, to convert the Cadillac factory to war production for WWI, Leland and his son resigned and formed the Lincoln Motor Car Co to build Liberty airplane engines. You know the firm as the Lincoln division of Ford and their factory on W Warren. Ford bought them to have a luxury brand when they ran into financial trouble during the depression of '21. Anyway, L&F's factory was at 1899 Trombly. I believe that was the post-1920 address. (AIW, do you have a source for converting pre-1920 addresses to post-1920?). I'm not sure if it's still around; there is no 1899 Trombly. But there is an 1891 Trombly, and could this possibly be the L&F factory? The city's website says it was built in 1890. I always liked it because the ends of the steel (iron?) reinforcing rods sticking out of the brick are capped with stars:  (If you go looking for it, it's since been painted in a salmon color.) Backside, on E Milwaukee:   If this isn't it, then it was probably demoed along with Poletown. Have a Happy St Patricks Day! The one day we Irish aren't miserable. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3441 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Mike great shots. I bet that is the right place. As for a good guide for pre/post address changes, I've found nothing beats the city directories the years after an address change. I guess you're off to work for the next three days? Have a good time, and be ready to get back to work here upon your return. I expect you'll be checking in from the road... I came home and fired up the scanner. Here are scans from 3 different magazines all dating from 1929-1935 The first is this map (I've broken it into four for ease of uploading), it points out the "general" location of major plants. This one is c. 1935     | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3442 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Fair warning, I don't know where any of these were, the magazines were simply touting Detroit as a center of Industry... Here's American Radiator and Ireland & Matthews I'm not familiar with I&M  Cadillac  Chrysler @ Jefferson & Kercheval  Chrysler in Walkerville Ontario (now part of Windsor)  Chrysler Plant  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3443 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Dodge Main  Various Dodge Plants  Ferderal Motor Works  Three Fisher Body Plants  Gar Wood Industries  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3444 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Two Graham-Paige Plants & Hudson Motors  Two more shots of Graham-Paige Plants (might be the same one)   Hudson Essex & Hudson Terraplane plants - The same plants but different books have it listed under either of the two... What were the years of production on each model?  Hupp Motor Cars  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3445 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
McCord Radiator  National Automotive Fibers, Inc.  Packard, Cadillac & Dodge  Parker Rustproof Co.  Parke-Davis & Kelvinator  Plymouth-Desoto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3446 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Sorry... Here's the Plymouth-DeSoto  Detroit Seamless Steel Tubes, looks old, and sounds like an automotive supplier  US Rubber & Continental Motors  Windsor Automotive Factories  And as an extra bonus... Since we were talking about Stoves... Here's a pile of Stove Factories, still pumping them out as the the 30's.  Good night. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rustic Member Username: Rustic Post Number: 1327 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 130.132.177.245 |
this is a great thread. keep 'em coming ... I'm sure I speak for others when I say that although few people are POSTING to this thread, MANY are reading it ... great stuff! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
31ford Member Username: 31ford Post Number: 179 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 152.163.100.195 |
Seamless tubes were used alot in early radiator manufacture. Ford used seamed tubes in all of his own manufactured Rads. while his other suppliers, McCord and Flintlock used the seamless design. Seamless tube radiators are less prone to leaking, and very desireable today. Another note of interest, Ford Production boss in the 1900s-1944 Charles Sorenson started out his career in the Stove factories of Detroit. In his book "My Forty Years with Ford" , he describes alot of these factories. I'll try and post some of the cars that rolled out of these factories this evening. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bate Member Username: Bate Post Number: 21 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 4.247.134.38 |
Here is my latest list of locations. Includes recent posts and other additions. Inactive Auto Plants & Related (s) standing (d) demolished Abbott- used Northern plant (1910) then built at Beaufait & Waterloo American Electromobile (1906) 1571 River St. Anderson (1907-19) factory- Riopelle & 416 Clay St. / warehouse- 81-83 Jefferson Anhut > Barnes (1909-10) 510 Howard St. Beyster Detroit (1910-11) 1329 Woodward Ave. B.F. Everitt- 63-65 Fort St. Bour-Davis- W. Ford & 23rd St. (d) Briggs-Detroiter (1911-15) 461 Holbrook Ave & Grand Trunk RR Brush- Oakland & Rhode Island Ave Brush Runabout (1906-7) used Briscoe Factory Buick Mfg. Co. (1902)- 416-418 Howard St. Buick Auto-Vim & Power (1900)- 39 Beaubien St. Cadillac Amsterdam Plant- 450 Amsterdam & 1363 Cass (d) fire 1904, rebuilt (1905-21) (s) > Wescott Bldg. Cadillac Clark St Plant (1921-87)- 2680 Clark St (d) except for engineering bldg > Ameritech. Cadillac Fleetwood Plant aka Fisher #18 (1917-80's)- 261 West End Ave & Fort St. (d) potrions in 1993 Cadillac Plant #2 -1899 Trobbley & Dequindre Cadillac ???- Riopelle & E. Warren (s) Callie Motor Co- 6210 2nd Ave. Carhartt (1902-12) S.W. corner Michigan & 10th Ave Carter Color- 6051 Haistings (d) Cartercar (1905) 230 21st & Baker Carter- 220-230 1st St. C.H. Blomstrom (1904-08) 75 Clark & River Rd (100-401 Clark St) C.H. Blomstrom (1906-09)- Leib & Wright St. Chalmers- Oakland Ave Chalmers- Jefferson Ave Chevrolet (1911-13) converted Corcoran Lamp Factory 1145 West Grand Chevrolet- 1145 W. Grand Blvd Chrysler- 6501 Harper Chrysler Motors (HP)- 841 Massachusettes Chrysler Mack Ave Stamping- 11631 Mack Ave (d) Commercial (1903-05)- 259-267 Franklin st Continental Motors- 12801 E. Jefferson Day Auto Car (1911-13) Trumbull (moved to) 25 E. Milwaukee Deluxe (1906-09) 75 Clark & River Rd. (100-401 Clark St) Deluxe- 1000 Woodward Demotcar Co- 21st St > 1305 Bellevue Detroit Auto Co (1901-02) 1363 Cass Ave. Detroit Auto Mfg. Co. (1905-07) 177-179 Larned St. Detroit Auto Vehicle Co. (1904-07) 65-71 Cathrine St. Detroit Excelsior Works- S.W. Custer & Richmond Detroit Electric Car (1919) was Anderson -731 10th St. Detroit Forge - 9611 Winfield Detroit Motor Casting- 1067 Beaufait (s) Dingfelder (1903-04)- 958 Jefferson Dodge Main- 7900 Joseph Campau Ave (d) Eclipse MFG (engines) Euclid Ave EMF - Piquette (s) EMF (1907) Clay & Dequindre EMF- also used Wayne & Northern factories EMF - 75 Clark & River Rd E.R. Thomas- Woodward Ave Eureka Mfg. (1905)- 169-171 Sylvester Fee & Block- 254 Jefferson Federal Motor Truck- 5780 Federal Fisher Body- W. FOrt & Livernois Fisher Body Plant 2 (wood kiln)- St. Antoine (d) 1925 Fisher Body Plant 4- Oakland Ave. Fisher Body Plant 12 -1961 E. Milwaukee (d) Fisher Body Plant 18 (aka Cadillac Fleetwood Plant)- West End Ave Fisher Plant 21>GMC NATP (1919-1990?) - 601 Piquette (s) Ford (1903) -Mack Ave Ford - Piquette & Beaubien (s) Ford Highland Park - Manchester -plant (s) powerhouse (d) Ford Service- 7310 Woodward Ford > Hudson - Mack & Beaufait Gemmer- 6400 Mt. Elliott Gilmore Motor Works (1904)- 1174 Fort St W. GMC Saginaw/Detroit -1840 Holbrook Graham Paige- 6250 Woodward Graham Paige- 8505 W. Warren Graham Paige- Mckinstry (?) Graham Paige (Jewett factory) Warren Ave Graham Paige (trucks) Meldrum Ave Graham Paige (trucks) Conant Ave Graham Paige (trucks) Lynch Rd Griswald Motor Car (1907) headquarters @ 521 Lincoln, plant shared w/ C.H. Blomstrom- Leib & Wright St. Hammer-Sommer (1903-04) 573 Gratiot Hammer-Sommer- 298-300 W. Columbia Hammer Motor Car (1904) 313-315 Riopelle Henry Ford Co. > Detroit Auto Co (1901-02) 1363 Cass Ave. Herreshoff (1908-14) used E.R. Thomas factory- Woodward Huber Auto Car (1903) -248 Jefferson Hudson- Mack & Beaufait Hudson- 12601 E. Jefferson & Conner (d) Hupp (1915-41) Milwaukee & Mt. Elliott Hupp (1908-15) Bellvue St. Hupp (1911-12) became RCH- 115-185 Lycaste & Jefferson Ave Hupp- 1300-1324 Jefferson & Concord (?) Hupp Yeats Electric (1911-12) 285 Monroe St. (115-185 Lycaste St) Hussley Auto & Supply (1902-03)- Beaubien & Trombley Keeton- 11600-11649 Lawton Kelsey Hayes Wheel Corp- 3600 Military Kelvinator- 14250 Plymouth Rd. King Motor Car Co (1911-23) 1559 West Jefferson (5700-5799 Concord Kress Line- 657 Lycaste Kressler-Detroit- Kritt (1909-10) 2600-2795 Wright St & Lieb (former C.H. Bloomstrom) Kritt (1911-15) 1608 E. Grand Leland & Faulkner (1893) > Cadillac Plant #2 -1899 Trobbley & Dequindre Liberty- Charleviox & Conner Lincoln- W. Warren & Livernois Lozier (1910) - 3703 Mack Ave & St Jean Mack Ave Stamping- 11631 Mack Ave (d) Marvel (1906-08) 284-290 Rivard & Mullet Massnick Mfg. Co. (1904-08) Lafayette & Meldrum Massnick Mfg. Co.-8400-8499 River Ct. Maxwell-Briscoe (1906)-sales office 243-246 Jefferson Metzger (1910-12) used Jacob Meire Truck plant- Dequindre & Milwaukee Metzger > Maxwell > Fisher - 1961 E. Milwaukee (d) Miller Car Co (1911-14) 1638 Russell St, used Detroit Excelsior Works- S.W. Custer & Richmond Motor Products- 11801 Mack Ave Murray Body- 7590 Russell Olds Motor Works (1900-01)- 1308-1318 Jefferson & Concord (d) fire 1901 Owen (1910-11) N.W. Corner of East Grand Packard (1904-58)- E.Grand (s) some buildings demolished 2000 Page-Dertoit -West Warren Page- McKinstry ??? Paragon Motor Car- Rivard & Mullet (sold to Marvel) Puritan Machine > Deluxe Auto Parts (1911-24) 51-57 10th St & factory 413-415 Layafette Bl. RCH- 115-185 Lycaste & Jefferson Ave Regal (1907-18) 201 Piquette & Woodward Regal- Harper & Haistings Reliance (1903-07) 87-89 Fort St E. Rickenbacker- 4815 Cabot (s) Ritter- 1305 Bellevue Scripps Motor Car- 5817 Lincoln Sibley (1910-11) used Detroit Valve Co plant- Solvay & Mackie Sommers Motor Car (1904-05) 298-300 Columbia St E. Standard Motor Truck- 1111 Bellevue (s) Studebaker- Piquette (s) Templeton-Dubrie (1910) 687 Mack Ave. Timken Detroit Axle- Fort & Clark Traveler- 5786-5845 Commonwealth U.S. Rubber (Uniroyal) 6600 E. Jefferson Vandyke (1910-12) West Fort & 36th St Wahl- 3089 E. Grand Blvd Walker Motor Car (1905-06) 107 Fort St. Warren Motor Car (1910-13) 1331 Holden (s) Wayne Auto Car (1904-08) Piquette & Brush Wheeler Mfg Co. (1903-04) 10-16 Baltimore Ave. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3448 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Great list... Thanks! Here's another Mystery Factory. I bought it off of Ebay, and the lady thought it was Detroit, as that's where the estate orignated, and there were lots of Detroit reltated papers in the estate. However, I threw it up here a few years ago, and no one recognized it. I figured it was worth another shot.  The best map I've ever come across is this one for Windsor, I wonder if a similar kind of map was ever made in Detroit?  The indside has little drawings of all the major factories, and where they were...  The whole reason I bought this map, was to do what's being done in this thread.. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3449 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Rustic, I agree with you. This thread is what this forum used to be about, and hasn't been about in quite some time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1456 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
Bate, your list is incredible. You have given us enough for a lifetime. Having said that, here's a list of others which were not on your list. Sadly, I don't have the directories. Kelsey-Hayes Budd Wheel. Micromatic Hone. Holly Carb. Factory showrooms such as Packards, Chrysler, Etc. Turnstedt. Various Ford Rouge incarnations, a whole topic itself. Car company office bldgs. all over Detroit. Advertising shops, the steak AND the sizzle. Tucker Locomobile Marmon. Desotos on Wyoming. Numerous design studios all over Detroit. All the shops in the 8 Mile Rd. corridor. There is so much here to explore. Like MikeM has said, it can be an obsession. Many thanks to Andrew. He just keeps keeping on. Windsor is another vast storehouse of auto plant history. jjaba | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1457 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
The Smith Envelope Company was located at 2460 E. Grand Blvd., corner Dubois, Detroit 11, Michigan. jjaba's father, Irving Panitch, was the Plant Superintendent. He worked for the company 40 years in 3 different locations. About 60 Polish women ran the machines, the men doing the adjusting, the die cutting, and were the printers. Dad came up as a hand compositor and pressman. He arrived at the factory in 1928, off the train. Smith had sent him a train tkt., luring him away from Rochester Envelope Company. Today, the site is on the bend of the Blvd. widened when GM Poletown was constructed. Dad moved the factory to Roosevelt and W. Michigan Ave. in the Ford garage owned by Canvassar. Later, he moved them again to the Russell Industrial Center, Russell and Clay, in the front one-story bldg. in that huge Murray Auto Body complex. It was wonderful to see such a place all on one floor. Dad really loved Hamtramck. He had all his favorite stores there. Everybody called him "Murph" since he had campaigned for Frank Murphy, the socialist mayor, governor, judge. The main customers for Dad's envelopes were the auto companies. Sometimes, they'd order a million at a whack and the salesmen would bet my father he couldn't get them out in a day. He'd come home with a special bottle of whiskey or a hat after winning the bet. By the sound of each machine, he knew what was going on and he walked miles a day solving shit. One day, one of his employees told him a new kid he hired called Dad a "kike" behind his back. That same day, Dad put him on the cutter without training. If you stand behind the operator, it looks like a fucking guillotine, a huge blade slashing through a tall lift of flat sheets of paper stock. The kid turned blue and walked out the door. Dad never saw him again. In 40 years, the man never called in sick nor ever fired anybody. He was the onliest Jew in the plant, a 1913 immigrant from Ukraine through Ellis Island off the SS Pretoria. jjaba learned to set type and run the presses there on Sundays. In about 1968, Dad stopped the line at Noon one day, and with mother at his side, said goodbye. They gave him a tv and went back to work. jjaba, Westside Bar Mitzvah Bukkor, growing up in Detroit in the '40s and '50s. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3450 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Showrooms?!? jjaba that is a whole other thread.... To hold you over, here's the old Nash Motors Showroom in Windsor. Built in 1929.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sven1977 Member Username: Sven1977 Post Number: 24 Registered: 04-2004 Posted From: 209.220.229.254 |
Since there is an interest in buildings still standing, here is a shot of the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company powerhouse. It's at Rapid and Woodward in Pontiac. Rapid eventually became GMC. The building is now a rock climbing gym. You can go inside if you want. For those who don't know, you can also go inside the old Studebaker Piquette plant. There are various stores inside. The posts and joists are wood.  Rapid Powerhouse, Pontiac | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1460 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
jjaba loves that overhead sidedoor. What a splendid storefront. Is that where Andrew's daddy bought his 1953 Nash Ambassador Custom Country Club Hardtop Sedan? Price was $2433, USD, which was $,7595.00 Canadian. In living colour, we'll expect AIW's next PDJ to be the Nash-Kelvinator Factory out on jjaba's Westside. Located at Mark Twain and Plymouth Rd., this is a beaudy of AIW's buddys, William E. Kapp, Wallace Mc Kenzie, and Amedeo Leoni, all of SHG, 1927. While you're there, check the adjacent streets laid out in 1927-31 as a development of Miller-Storm Company. The best addresses are 11310-11344 Mark Twain, Tudor Revival Bungalows. jjaba | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1461 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
PLYMOUTH MOTORS LYNCH ROAD ASSEMBLY PLANT Built 1928: Albert Kahn. 6334 Lynch Road, Detroit. Walter Chrysler introduced the Plymouth in 1928 to compete with Chevrolet (GM) and the low-priced Fords. The main assembly building is of steel and glass, 375 feet wide, 2,490 ft. long, the largest assembly building of its kind on the world. This was the last major auto factory to be built until 1984, GM Poletown Hamtramck Assembly Plant of the Coleman Young days. jjaba, a little Eastside history for you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bate Member Username: Bate Post Number: 22 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 4.247.137.180 |
As others have said, "this can get a bit obsessive". What put the hook in me was the first time I visited Detroit. I went to the auto show to see a client. While there I picked up a show copy of Motor Trend and became fascinated by an article about Detroit's auto factory ruins. I think there was even a mention of the Fab Ruins website- which I spent endless hours exploring. From there I had an idea of a few locations and went out for a look. I was fortunate to visit places before the whole "Urban Explorer" craze hit. Most sites were not badly vandalized, or covered in graffiti, as they are now. The military has a term AIP "abandon in place", which just about sums it up. Packard buildings had filing cabinets with paperwork from the 50's and employee names still on the wooden doors. Toilet paper in the (at that point un-destroyed) bathrooms still on the holders. Almost like a time capsule. Detroit is one of the few places in the world where one can see the roots of industry, maybe not preserved, but at least enough to get an idea of what it must have been like to head out the door, hard hat and lunch box in hand, to put in a shift on the line. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
31ford Member Username: 31ford Post Number: 181 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 64.12.116.195 |
My obsession with the old factories stems from my business/hobby, of collecting and restoring Vintage cars. I have wanted to head back home and visit some of these factory sites with digi cam in hand, but when you own the company there's never enough spare time.... I toured the Jacksonville, FL Ford plant-- abandoned now. But at the time there was still alot of history present, some of the assembly line trackage, old signs still hanging, the huge time card rack, etc etc... It also satisfied my curiousity as one of my cars was built there in Dec. 1930.... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bate Member Username: Bate Post Number: 23 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 4.247.134.192 |
A word about addresses on the list I posted. I tried to confirm actual street numbers with more than one source, even so, there might be some duplication. I think we all have noted a factory that is listed with numerous addresses for the same place. Many plants are huge, encompassing city blocks of space with multiple cross and corners streets, and some have had portions added and subtracted over the years. I tried to make reference to dates where I could. It was common for these plants to have multiple automotive users over a short period of time. To add to the confusion, early auto companies went in and out of business, reorganized with different names, merged and purchased others at an alarming rate. The family tree of the early auto industry has many twisted branches. My hope is to compile an overview that is accurate enough to locate the whereabouts most places, if still standing, with a reasonable degree of "latitude". I have one more address instalment, but will wait a week, or so, for additional posts or corrections. Thanks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3451 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Well looks like this got me motivated enough to get me working on the Windsor side of things... Here's the list I've come up with over here... Auto Specialities Backstay Standard Co. (glass run channels) Bendix-Eclipse of Canada Canadian Piston Ring Canadian Motor Lamp Co. Champion Spark Plug Chrysler - 2 Plants (one still in use the other long demolished) Dominion Forge Essex Wire Corp (auto wiring assemblies) Hupp Motor Car Kelsey Wheel Long Mfg. Co. (rads & clutches) McCord Radiator & Mfg. Motor Products Corp of Canada Packard Motors Sandwich Foundry (Automotive Iron Castings) Viking Pump Walker Metal Products (Automotive Castings) H. V. Welles Co. (two axle Drive Trucks) L. A. Young (Auto Spring Cushions) Along w/ Ford (still in use), Studebaker (plant burned to the ground in the mid 80's) & Fisher Body (burned in the late 70's) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1462 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
Thanks Andrew. but tell us, which auto products come out of Windsor today? (Chrysler Pacifica, Mini-Vans, Dodge Vans, Ford Engines for which cars, GM transmissions?) Nice list. JJABA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 374 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.14.122.57 |
Saw this item about the Packard Proving Grounds (which were mentioned in this original Old Car Factories thread) in the local community section of yesterday's Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/2005/ma comb/0503/17/B05-119658.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1467 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
jjaba also wonders if we can expand our discussions to the small village Ford plants around Michigan. Is there a list somewhere by city and products? jjaba wonders if any of them are running products today or are just ruins. Seems I remember them in Saline, Chelsea, Manchester, Northville, Milford. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track75 Member Username: Track75 Post Number: 1574 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 12.75.22.82 |
What an excellent thread! It gets my vote for Best Thread of 2005. Keep up the good work, contributors. As Rustic said, MANY are watching. (heh, no pressure...) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sven1977 Member Username: Sven1977 Post Number: 25 Registered: 04-2004 Posted From: 209.220.229.254 |
When I started this thread, I had no idea that so many people would be interested. It was my first thread. I hope I don't wind up like Orson Wells and "Citizen Kane." He was never able to top his first movie. Chicago has a great history of gangsters. L.A. has a history of movies. New York has a history of everything but one: cars. That belongs to us. (Along with stoves and buggies) I see an old factory and wonder what it used to be before Father Time forgot about it. I'm a model railroader. If you want to see old industrial America, just follow the train tracks. Little did I know the huge wealth of knowledge and interest in old factories that was out there. Mikem and I seem to travel down the same broken-up roads. I don't know how long these threads "live" but I hope there is some way for me to save it or reference back to it a few years from now when I'm wondering, "What's that building?" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1285 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
LOL @ Sven - I put all my energy into a few threads and there's nothing leftover for any others. I take a sabbatical for a few months then come back and try it again. If you like the thread, as it eventually sinks down toward the bottom of the page, just open it and click File... Save As... and you'll have your own personal copy (until your hard drive crashes!). I wonder how many pages it would take to print this? I was just thinking about model railroading magazines and if any had articles about railroad operations in Detroit. That could be a good source of info. I have a few railroad-auto factory tidbits to throw in here later. jjaba will have to wait for Ford's village industries. This is Detroit, not B.F.E.! 31Ford might be the one to tackle that project. AIW, I like those maps, but the one thing that caught my eye on the Detroit map was F.T.D. on East Grand Boulevard. I've never given any thought to where in Detroit they got their start. Here's what I have from various sources about the lesser known factories you posted pictures of: American Radiator: Incorporated 1888 as Michigan Radiator & Iron Manufacturing Co. Had foundry, machine shop, warehouse, offices, etc on Trombly between Russell and Grand Trunk RR. Incorporated in 1891, American Radiator was organized to take control of the Michigan Radiator and Detroit Radiator Cos. Manufactures cast-iron radiators and boilers for household water and steam heating systems. No date on when they started supplying the auto industry. Additional plant on Jos Campau. Ireland & Matthews: Incorporated 1889. Sheet metal stampings. Located at Beard and Chatfield Avenues. Chrysler @ Jefferson & Kercheval: Your picture is looking south with the former Chalmers plant on the far side of E Jefferson and the American Motor Body Co plant on the near side. American Motor body was bought by Chrysler in 1925 giving them a 700,000 sq ft body manufacturing plant. This came to be known as the Chrysler Kercheval plant. It's also the one with the large CHRYSLER letters on top in later photos:  The truck cab says Briggs Mfg Co, but this was a Chrylser plant and bodies were trucked across the street until the overhead conveyor was built in 1955. Federal Motor Works: I have a Federal Motor Truck Co, corner of Federal and Campbell Avenue, incorporated 1910. Manufactures motor trucks in 1, 1½, 2, 3½, and 5-ton sizes. Graham-Paige: The only other thing I have on Paige, that hasn't been mentioned already, is from my 1922 source. Paige-Detroit was incorporated in 1908, and had three factories with the main one at Fort and McKinstry. Hudson Essex & Hudson Terraplane: These were both models of Hudson. Essex was organized as a separate division of Hudson in 1917 and the first Essex model came out in 1919. Terraplane replaced it in '32. This brings up a point that Bate hit on, in that the names and addresses of these places could change frequently or have more than one address. Addresses could just be intersections, or pre-1920 street numbers, before the city-wide renumbering was done. And the factories could be named after a make/model that later shifts production to a new location. I have a map showing the Chrysler Jefferson plant as the "Imperial" plant. Chrysler did a large expansion of the factory in 1928, allowing production of the Model 65 to move there from the Highland Park (Maxwell) factory, and thereby freeing up space in HP to build the first Plymouths and DeSotos before they got their own factories in 1929 and 1936. DeSotos were also built at Dodge Main and Jefferson before the DeSoto plant was completed. Hupp: Incorporated 1908 as Hupp Motor Car Co by R. C. Hupp. Re-incorporated 1915 as Hupp Motor Car Corp and took over Detroit and Windsor plants of the old company as well as the plant of American Gear & Manufacturing in Jackson. Produces the Hupmobile, one of the most popular in the medium-price range. Plant located at Mt Elliot and Milwaukee Avenues. McCord Radiator: I have a McCord Manufacturing Co, 2587-2637 East Grand Blvd. Incorporated 1916 to supersede a company of the same name. In 1919 it expanded by acquiring the business of McCord & Co in Chicago, steel founders, the Russell Motor Axle Co of Detroit, and the Racine Manufacturing Co. This gives it a wide range of auto and truck parts products including radiators, axles, bodies, cylinders, lubricators for steam and gas engines, and journal boxes for railway passenger cars. The company controls seven plants. National Auto Fibres: This is the plant I had pictures of on Hoover, just north of E State Fair, on the Continental Factory thread. I think they made wood and leather products for cars. Detroit Seamless Steel Tubes: Located on W Warren and Wyoming Avenues. Incorporated 1900 for the manufacture of seamless steel tubes used in rear axle parts, differential parts, torque tubes, drive shaft housings, steering gears, oil feeds, brake shafts, also boiler tubes, both marine and locomotive. Do you have the key to the numbered Dodge plants in the one photo? Another source I have says the machine shops of Leland & Faulkoner (or Faulconer), from my last post, were at 1910 Trombly and are no longer extant. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
31ford Member Username: 31ford Post Number: 182 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 205.188.117.68 |
Jjaba, I have lots of info on Ford's "Village Industries" , I posted some pics last year, but it's certainly worthy of reposting. Some are open to the public in the capacities of antique shops, grist mills etc..... Originally most of the plants made small items, such as cigar lighters, headlamp bulbs, tooling etc. A future thread of intrest on the rise.. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1469 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
STUDEBAKER PIQUETTE AVENUE PLANT, (1910) PIQUETTE AVENUE AND BRUSH STREET. I take you back to August, 1908. Bryon F. Everett, William E. Metzger, and Walter Flanders established the EMF Company out of the assets of TWO proven LOSERS, the Northern Motor Car Company and the Wayne Automobile Company.In 1910, South Bend's Studebaker Automobile Company took it over and produced cars in this plant and one on W. Jefferson until 1928. The Piquette Building is a large complex of four stories fronting along Piquette, with four wings of the same material extending back from the main bldg. It is adjacent to the Ford Motor Company Plant on the same street. One can only imagine the noise, pollution, and tumult with a Tower of Babel of foreign and domestic workers at shift change in that tight street. In 1910, Detroit had a population of 465,766. 5,741 were blacks and 157,534 were immigrants from all over the world. Some of the largest groups were Italians, Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Lebanese, Syrians, Canadians, French, English, Welsh, Germans, and the Irish. That same year, 1910, there were 150 American automobile manufacturers and 202 makes of cars. Detroit had come of age as the car capital of the world. At the time, Detroit's Automobile Row, E. Jefferson Ave. and Brush St. boasted 16 car dealerships. And in a shameless plug, Governor Lewis Cass Technical High School became Detroit's first high school named for somebody. jjaba, Westsider. Thanks for this lovely thread. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3455 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 209.216.150.127 |
No Mike of course not. That photo appeared in a magazine I had from 1929. It just had the photo with no key! lol... It looks like the magazine was a promotional tool, like something the VCB would put out today, it had a two page spread touting all the major factories. They must have gotten stock photos from all the main companies, but provided no real information. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3456 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 209.216.150.127 |
This one Mike?    | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3457 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 209.216.150.127 |
Mike as for FTD, is that the first one in the world? I wonder if the building is anything special or just like all the others in the area? It would be between Jefferson & Gratiot. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3459 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 209.216.150.127 |
By request... I ported these few posts over from the other thread....
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gianni Member Username: Gianni Post Number: 29 Registered: 05-2004 Posted From: 69.3.205.104 |
Awesome thread folks. I drive by the Detroit Motor Casting site on E Lafayette and Beaufait regularly. Looks like someone is still in business there, doing whatever they did there almost 100 years ago. A few years ago there was some kind of "incident" there. Some kind of chemical leak into the air. It was roped off like a crime scene for several days. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1286 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
AIW, yes Florists Telegram Delivery is an original Detroit company. I've always driven past their Northwestern Hwy HQ without ever giving thought as to where in town they started. The National Auto Fibres building is the first one of mine you posted above. The second one is a few blocks north on Hoover and may or may not have anything to do with N.A.F. Here's why I think your scan is the same factory: 1) There used to be a separate office building in front of the main plant, where the "National Auto Fibres Inc" signage is, which is showing in your old photo and in this aerial photo from 1961. It's at the right side (east) in the photo, between the shadows of the trees and the main plant. It is no longer there today.  2) Concentrate on a couple parts of your photo. The buliding has been added onto on the left (south) side since yours was taken. Here's one part they have in common -   3) Here's the other. It has a "front yard" fenced in with an iron fence and posts built with brick and stone. Look at the sidewalk gate at the right side of your photo -   The driveway has similar posts on either side. Also, note the smokestack in the background. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1287 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
jjaba makes MikeM laugh with stories of the "large complex" on Piquette. When we un-zoom from Piquette Avenue we see how Hamtramck Assembly dwarfs Piquette and all around it, both in acres of buildings and land. No wonder they needed to move to the boonies after the war.  jjaba, did your father come to Detroit as part of the Industrial Removal Office effort? Remind me to tell you about the Detroit Americanization movement, supported by the Board of Commerece and the city's largest manufacturers, complete with nighttime English lessons. I hear that Polish was the de facto language of Dodge Main through the '50s. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1470 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
jjaba's father was age nine when he arrived Ellis Island, America, in 1913 from Hamburg. Not all of the family came at one time. They were victims of Czarist pogrom in a shtetl called Bougiefka, near Umon, Ukraine. The people were being burned out of their houses by young thugs over trumped up charges. Our family worked in the sugar mill and a whole trainload of sugar was missing. An uncle was shot over it. He was the bookkeeper. They fled with the clothes on their backs in a horse cart from there across Europe somehow by trains to Hamburg, Germany port and waited for an available ship to America. They rode steerage to New York. Dad was very sick and was quaranteened until able to take a train to Chicago, where other family members had arrived as an advance party. Stories of the boat tilting as they ran from side to side to take in the view of New York Harbor were told in our family. At age 14 in the 4th grade, Dad (Alva Sholem) went to work full time in an envelope factory in Chicago, learned his printing trade, and partially supported 10 people. More children were born in America in the family. Rochester Envelope Company sent him a train tkt. in 1926, so he moved there and in 1928, Smith Envelopes sent him a train tkt. to Detroit. He worked for Smith for 40 yrs., beginning at 2460 E. Grand Blvd. and Dubois, and after WWII was made superintendent. jjaba was born in Women's Hospital (now Hutzel) in Detroit, 1941. No, Mike, our story was not very nice. It was not for economic opportunity, nor voluntary. America was survival in times of genocide. Remember, they assisinated the Czars with a massive Revolution just a few yrs. later. It became the Soviet Union. jjaba, Westside Bar Mitzvah Bukkor. Just thought you'd like to know. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3461 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
jjaba great story, and mike great pictures. Next time I'm getting ready for final, I'll be wondering what the pilot is up to... I went for a ride around Windsor yesterday to see what I could find. This one is most surprising. This four story building is now a seinors residence, but in the 30's it was home to Packard Motors of Canada. Fisher Body was accross the street and about 10 times larger...  Here is the former plant of Long Manufacturing. They made Rads & Clutches.  Here's the back of the Dominion Forge complex. The front has some really nice Art Deco office buildings, but they are on a busy road with no where to stop...  The last two are the old Canadain Motor Lamp Factory.   | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1479 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
Ah, The Dominion of Canada. What grade is it exactly when you learn how to bow to the Queen, eh? Andrew sure does remind us about the history of the auto industry in Canada. Imagine all the products shipped FOB Windsor to Europe because they were inside of the British Empire. And ofcourse during Prohibition, when FOB Windsor meant bootleggers could trans-ship boxes of booze marked "China" right across the Detroit River for our consumption. But that's another thread. Great pictures. Thanks AIW. jjaba | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1289 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
Thanks for your great story jjaba. Glad your here with us! AIW's last pic makes me want to know when this stlye of window was popular in factory construction. 1930s? '40s? Are these steel-sash windows for which Detroit Steel Products was famous for? I see them in a variety of colors but mostly a light blue-green, sometimes reddish-brown or rose color. I think replacements are plastic or plexiglass, especially if they're in brighter colors. Obviously good for getting light into the factory, but not very energy efficient. Seems as though they are only used in buildings that don't have several structurally reinforced floors, just warehouses or machine shops.         | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1485 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
Can we get some building names & addrsses here? This is so pure Albert Kahn, it should be in a textbook. Thanks Mike. After Albert, YOU be the man. jjaba | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3467 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Mike where is the building in picture 2 & 3? That looks familliar. Is it around Poletown/Mt. Elliot, or near where Chrysler Highland Park was? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bate Member Username: Bate Post Number: 27 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 4.247.134.76 |
Aiw's overhead photos of the Fisher Piquette plants answers my Fisher 21 "use" question. On my earlier post I linked to an EPA report stating early 1990's GMC Sierra Van porduction. The anwser is in the address- 601 Piquette (Fisher 23 plant) vs 700 Piquette (Fisher 21). Just across the street. Thanks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3470 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 65.92.103.76 |
Bate, those photos are MikeM's. I simply copied them over from another thread. I wish I had photos like that, but my job keeps me grounded. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1290 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
jjaba, the first one is Michigan Electric Steel Service at 6666 Tireman, built in 1939. According to their website they do "Custom Slitting & Shearing of Electrical Steel; Processing of Cold Rolled, Hot Rolled, Aluminized, Galvanized,and Electrical Steel & Plate. Our Precision Slitting Machines are used for slitting Grain Oriented and Non Oriented Electrical Steel, burr free to fit the customer’s requirements." Well, who knows what it what it was originally built for? Probably some similar operation. The last picture is just down the road at 6100 Tireman. Both of these are just north of the Lincoln factory. This one was built in 1946 and was used for "plating and metal treatment" but now seems to be abandoned. Pictures 2,3,& 7 show a shop on Hamtramck Dr on the northern boundary of the GM Hamtramck Assembly plant. One of the few to escape the Poletown bulldozers. No. 4 is the former Peninsular Grinding Wheel Company at 729 Meldrum, in a lower east side industrial corridor. Built in 1936. No. 5 is up on the Chrysler corridor at 20250? Mt Elliott, between 7½ and 8 Mile Rds. Built in 1938. No. 6 is at the Warren tank arsenal. I'll work on some more aerials later in the day. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1487 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
Chrysler-Dodge Half-Ton plant. 21500 Mound Road.1937, Albert Kahn. ------------------------------ ---------------- Toward the end of his increible career, Albert Kahn built aa very modernist building for Chrysler. With Half-Ton, Kahn streamlines the three-part expression of sturdy base, walls of glass, and his transparent roof pavillions. Kahn's industrial buildings in Detroit have a very short shelf life, including this masterpiece. Many are either altered or abandoned. You can create ruins through changes in technology, politics, economics, ownership of the building or labor force. This is a building worth saving as an active shop. Although jjaba has never seen it personally, it begs a visit. jjaba, Westsider. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1291 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
The area between the Fort St and the river seemed to be a hotbed for brass companies. I've been wondering what this building at 5435 Fort @ Junction was. The city's website says built in 1920 and used for printing/publishing.    Then I found this drawing in my 1922 history book. It says Roberts Brass was a manufacturer of brass goods, but it's listed among the auto-related industries, so I assume it was a supplier of brass parts to the auto manufactureres. Can 31Ford tell us what brass was used for in the Model-T?  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1292 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
jjaba, I think you got a bad address on the Half-Ton Truck plant. It's in Warren just north of Eight Mile and burried deep inside the Chrysler truck plant, not visible from the road at all. But then, addresses on Mt Elliot in Detroit end at Eight Mile around #20600. Warren probably starts theirs at Eight mile at 20000, so 21500 might be right for Warren. Do a search on "steel sash windows" and you'll find lots of links to historic industrial structures around the country. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 1488 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 24.22.6.155 |
Desoto Press Shop.Albert Kahn, 1936. Wyoming and Mc Graw, Detroit Westside. This is the building you see North of the I-94 expressway heading East as you cross Wyoming. It has been marked "Chrysler" lately but we always knew it as Desotos. It is a very famous Kahn building in a Kahn emsemble. The Press Shop in a huge glass cage suspended from trusses. It is pure Bauhaus, pure European industrial design, but Pure Detroit since we got it right here. jjaba | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
31ford Member Username: 31ford Post Number: 183 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 205.188.117.68 |
Brass was used in the radiators, headlamps (until 1916) Coils, timer contact points, lots of small parts hubcaps, top prop knobs, windsheild frames on open cars. Another producer of lamps was the E.J. Brown co. On the Model A it was used in Instrument panels, dash lamps, radiators, headlamp reflectors which were then plated silver, bushings of various sizes. Other makes of cars used Brass for entire dash panels, bulb type horns,exterior door handles, etc... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1293 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
Yes, brass definitely in electrical parts. How about carbuerators? My mother remembers the neighbor's electric car cica 1930, especially the brass flower vases inside on the door posts. jjaba, I don't have much in the way of pictures of the DeSoto/McGraw Glass plant. Here's the terraserver aerial: DeSoto If you zoom in close, you'll see the style and shape of the original Kahn buildings. Most of these early plants that were kept in production past the '60s or '70s got wrapped in steel siding and had a host of other buildings grow around their base so as to make the original hidden or indistinguishable. I have the idea that this plant was not originally built for DeSoto but possibly a GM division instead, and the timeline below refers to the plant being converted for DeSoto production.  The plant closed last year; here's an article from the news about its future: http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0409/14/d01-270807.htm www.allpar.com has a good historical timeline and includes these tidbits on DeSoto as wellas references to the Graham-Paige plant on W Warren: 1928 May - The Plymouth Motor Corporation and the DeSoto Motor Corporation are formed. 1928 July - DeSoto production begins at Highland Park. 1929 New Lynch Road plant opens for Plymouth and DeSoto production. 1933 June - production of the DeSoto shifted from Lynch Road to Jefferson Avenue. 1936 Herman L. Weckler planned and managed conversion of plant on Wyoming Avenue for DeSoto production. Plant is opened in September. It becomes the head office and main plant for the DeSoto Division. 1947 Chrysler purchases former Graham assembly plant on Warren Avenue. Becomes part of the DeSoto complex. 1950 DeSoto Body Plant opens on Warren Avenue (former Graham plant) 1951 DeSoto expands Warren Avenue plant to include engine production. 1958 DeSoto production moves from the Wyoming plant to Chrysler's Jefferson Avenue plant for 1959 model year. 1958 Beginning with the 1959 models, Imperial production begins at the old Graham/DeSoto plant on Warren Avenue. 1958 McGraw Avenue plant of former DeSoto complex is converted to glass production. The main assembly building on Wyoming Avenue becomes the centre of Chrysler export operations in the 1960's. 1960 McGraw Glass Plant begins production. 1961 Imperial production reverts to the Jefferson Avenue plant with the 1962 models. The Graham/DeSoto/Imperial plant is sold. (AIW, can you break out another page in this thread? It's slow to load even at cable modem speeds.) (Message edited by MikeM on March 21, 2005) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1294 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.43.13.241 |
Kelsey Wheel Co, 1230-1240 Military Ave, was established in January, 1909 when the Detroit Bent Wood Co and the Kelsey Hickory Co consolidated to manufacture complete automobile wheels. John Kelsey became president of the new company. The company was reincorporated August 1916, having taken over the assets of the old company, also the Herbert Manufacturing Co, the Kelsey Wheel Co of Canada, and the Kelsey Wheel Co of Tennessee. The authorized capital is now (1922) $13,000,000 and when operating on full time and capacity about 2,700 men are employed. The company manufactures, in addition to wheels, hubs, brake drums, rims, bodies. Sawmills and wood-working plants are located at Memphis, Tennessee, the main plant is at Detroit and another factory at Windsor. South side of McGraw, 2004:  December 1936: "With a patchwork crew of only 78 members gathered from various auto parts shops and a tiny amount of money, the new 29-year-old president of Local 174, Walter Reuther, figured he would try, against all odds, to organize the workers of one of the automobile industry's titans: Ford. Reuther and his union allies decided they would first have to build a large membership base by organizing the 150,000 or so workers of Detroit's West Side. Their first target would be the Kelsey-Hayes Wheel Company, which made brakes for the Ford Motor Company and employed 5,000 workers. Kelsey-Hayes was selected not only because it provided an essential part to Ford but also because management there often unilaterally imposed work rules without regarding the needs of workers; UAW activists knew that many of the workers itched for a way to fight these bully tactics" '36 strikers on the north side of McGraw. Note the stone around the windows, and the old lamp inside the window frame:  Summer 2004. The windows are boarded up and the brush is overgrown, but the lamp is still there:   | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 3473 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 209.216.150.127 |
Mike I think parts of the Windsor K-H is still standing, incorporated into a newer factory. I'm going to try and investigate tomorrow. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 386 Registered: 07-2004 Posted From: 209.69.221.253 |
MikeM, what a chill I get seeing that lamp hanging there! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discuss Detroit » Hall of Fame Threads » Old Car Factories » Old Car Factories - 3 |
|
