Flint. Yes, that Flint. But before it became globally famous for not having a clean drinking water supply, it was the mother of America’s early car industry until the Great Depression. The First National Bank of Flint financed the files of Chevrolet, Dort, and Monroe. Charles Nash (president of Buick and GM) served on the bank’s board. Today, the bank building is a national historic place.
William Durant co-founded the Durant-Dort Carriage Company and then took over Buick in 1904. He used Buick’s success to create GM in Flint in 1908. The banks took control of GM in 1910, so Durant went on to create Chevrolet in 1911 with Swiss racer Louis Chevrolet and regained control of GM in 1916.
He convinced Albert Champion, manufacturer of porcelain spark plugs, to move his factory to Flint, and it continued operation until 2013. The spark plugs powered Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight in 1927 and ignited the Apollo 11 engines that took the first men to the moon. Charles Mott, an axle maker, also moved to Flint to serve GM and became mayor for three terms. Durant combined Buick, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac to create the world’s largest automaker. Flint grew from just 13,000 residents in 1900 to 91,000 by 1920.
Today, all that is left of Flint’s former glory as an auto hub are a few plaques and a Buick gallery at the Sloan Museum.
