On Sunday, February 2, the famous soothsayer and weather witch, Punxsutawney Phil will emerge from his den and condemn us to 6 more weeks of snow and cold and rain and cold and snow. But will he? This year has been a mild winter really (knock on wood). And if it stays as grey and overcast as it has, he might not see his shadow. Right? There’s hope…maybe.
On Thursday, January 30, the Genesee County Historical Society presents “Sit-down to Shut down: The 84-Year War Between General Motors and the UAW” from 7:30-8:30pm at UM-Flint’s Francis Willson Thompson Library. Admission is free but seating is limited. Please RSVP by calling 810.410. 4605.
This new series profiles the beginning and history of the towns and cities surrounding Flint in Genesee County. The profiles will be presented according to the earliest known settlement year. Major highlights will include founding, notable personage, major events, noted locations and business.
We all know the story of the wily Billy Durant and partner J. Dallas Dort as they worked to put “vehicle city” on the map with the world-famous Durant-Dort Carriage Company. Now is your chance to visit the historic offices of the most infamous men of Flint. Enjoy some light hors d’oeuvres amongst festive holiday decorations while enjoying the rich history of our city. The Christmas open house will take place Wednesday, December 11 from 5-7pm. Admission is free but consider a donation to the sponsors: the Genesee County Historical Society.
On November 16, we posted a story about Todd’s Tavern – the first restaurant in Flint owned by John and Polly Todd in 1830. A significant number of readers inquired as to the location of Todd’s Tavern.
In 1834, Flint River was a small but busy settlement. It was a place of passage with travelers stopping for the night before heading north to Saginaw and beyond. Due to this traffic, it was becoming quite a place of commerce and, seeing opportunity, persons were quickly buying up available land. Homesteads were being built and it was accepted that the town needed a way to communicate with the rest of the country – it needed a post office. In August, the town of “Flint River” set up their first post office on the corner of Kearsley and Saginaw Streets. The only question now was, “who shall run the place?” John and Polly Todd couldn’t do it, at the time they were running a very busy, and lucrative restaurant. Wait Beach was too busy divvying up all the land in the area. Jeremiah Davis had far too much work building the first bridge across the river and Daniel O’Sullivan was working hard on setting up his school. It was then that the town blacksmith, Lyman Stowe raised his hand. He had built his shop two years prior and, as he was a most amiable fellow, he knew everyone in town. It was a match made in heaven and Lyman Stowe became the first postmaster of Flint River.
Between 1811 and 1831, Flint was nothing more than a few dwellings concentrated near the Flint river. The two most notable being Jacob Smith’s Trading Post and Todd’s Tavern. The dwellings were located on the best place to cross the Flint River on a traveler’s path from Detroit to Saginaw. Two such travelers on this route were Frenchmen Alexis De Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont on a voyage that would form the basis for De Tocqueville’s classic book “Democracy in America.” In July of 1831, De Tocqueville and his group were passing through the small unincorporated village of Grumlaw, or Grand Blanc, a former recently settled Indian campground. There, his horse lost a shoe. A farmer in the town was able to reshod the horse. Against the farmer’s warnings, the group decided to take a chance at getting to Flint before the night. Unfortunately, as the explorers continued their voyage, they found themselves shrouded in darkness and soon lost each other.
Everyone knows about Flint’s first settler, Jacob Smith, and his trading post but the establishment built along the river by Flint’s first family gained more notoriety during the time. Todd’s Tavern was a hotel and eatery set up by John and Polly Todd in 1830.
As 2009 ended, America’s populace looked forward to returning to a more calm and prosperous time. That, frustratingly, was not to be. Climate and the environment were the major focus when in 2010, Deepwater Horizon, an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded causing multiple deaths and the biggest oil spill in U.S. waters. Companies BP and Transocean received astronomical fines for their involvement. In 2011, the U.S. ended the life of Osama Bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind behind the September 11 attacks. The next year, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey and New York causing $6.5 billion in damage. Then, in 2012, President Barack Obama won a second term after besting challenger, Mit Romney.
Since most of us can remember, Halloween has always been celebrated as a time of costumes, candy, thrills and ghost stories. It is something adults and children look forward to every year. When October begins, one of the first questions we ask our children is, “what do you want to be for Halloween?” while pondering our own macabre transformation. It is a tradition that ranks with Thanksgiving and Christmas. But when you really think about it, it’s a very strange concept. Why do we dress up just to scare the dickens out of each other? Why do we pass out sweets? How in the world did this thing start?
Some interesting things have happened in the month of October over the years.
The 2003 mayoral election pitted local businessman, Don Williamson, against Floyd Clack. Williamson promised a new Flint, suitable for growth and for business. He defeated Clack by 4,678 votes. His post was largely ceremonial the first year of his tenure, but when the state takeover ended, Williamson jumped into action. Almost immediately, he was at odds with the City Council and others. His beginning was extremely rocky, leading to constant showdowns and grandstanding with elected officials throughout his tenure.
