From April 4-11 1947, a combination of melting snow, moderate-to-intense spring thunderstorms, and increased runoff resulted in downtown Flint’s Saginaw Street being submerged under chilly spring water, splitting downtown in half. The amount of rain that fell in Flint was an average of 2.3 inches, and although this doesn’t seem like much to contribute to
In 1966, a time when civil rights proponents and racially segregated neighborhoods were clashing across the country, Floyd J. McCree was selected by his fellow commissioners to be the next mayor of Flint. He had served on the city commission since 1958, but from 1966 onward, his name would be recognized as one of the
One of Flint’s early pioneers was an American Revolutionary War veteran named Jonathan Beach. Beach Street in Downtown Flint is assumed to have been named after Jonathan Beach or the Beach family. His story begins out East in Goshen, Connecticut where he was born around October 1760 or 1761, the son of Deacon Edmund and
June 8, 1953 started out as a warm spring day in the Flint-Beecher community – but by nightfall, the day would be memorialized by a fatal natural disaster that precipitated numerous acts of humanity as rescue workers rushed to the aid of others in the chaotic days that followed. The day fell on a Monday,
he city of Flint as we know it today began in the early part of the 19th century as a single shanty in the wilds of Michigan. Jacob Smith, a Canadian of German descent, is commonly considered the founder of Flint. He established a trading post at the “Grand Traverse,” as the southernmost point of
any street names in Flint originate from the settlers who platted the city’s land. Early pioneers named roads after themselves, their wives, families, histories and interests. A local man by the name of Cecil McKenna is said to have conducted years of research on the origins of Flint’s street names, but sadly, after his death,
illa Hawkins has been a warrior her whole life. She is the last living member of a 12-citizen committee that helped pass the Flint Fair Housing Ordinance. In February 1968, Flint became the first city in the nation to pass by popular vote an open housing referendum. It passed by a narrow margin, making national
Once a well-known and oft-visited site, Stepping Stone Falls and its history has dimmed in the public mind. The water feature was part of a proposition made to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in 1964 to create the Genesee Recreation Area, which today includes the 650-acre C.S. Mott Lake, Crossroads Village, Huckleberry Railroad, Bluebell
Throughout MCM’s exploration of General Motors’ history, we’ve focused on the inchoate beginnings of what was later the model of efficiency and the power of precision. But who enacted this change? Who made the name of General Motors synonymous with industrial production? Answer: Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Undoubtedly, Alfred Sloan is a mysterious figure. The
A lover of fast machines and fast women, Albert Champion lived one of the most dramatic lives of any of the automobile barons. Champion was born in Paris on April 2, 1878. In 1899, he lived up to his name when he won the fourth Paris-Roubaix, one of the earliest and most challenging bicycle
The first two installments of this series focused on David Buick and other men who worked to get the Buick Motor Company off the ground at the dawn of the 20th century. Last month, we left off with Durant’s 1904 takeover of Buick. The explosive growth of the company after that takeover is well
James H. Whiting was born in Torrington, CT in 1842. He served in the 23rd Connecticut Infantry during the Civil War and afterwards made his way to Flint. In 1882, he became manager of the Begole, Fox & Company lumber mills, whose anemic outputs resulted from the severe depletion of timber surrounding the town. Whiting
