Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Weston-Mott Demolition 1946

Here is a view of the demolition of Weston-Mott facing south east showing factory #10/#62 at the left. You can see that they are placing the new footings for the foundation of factory #04 immediately following behind the demolition. They were wasting no time, as this factory was originally slated for demolition before the war Read this 1940 news article on the original schedule., but the floor space was so urgently needed that they waited until victory over the Axis powers was complete.

The covered rail dock and vent pipes visible in the photo below, can be seen at the extreme left in this photo. This view is facing south. The "Jam Shop" would be located just south of #68, the Buick personnel building at the top right in this photo. In the foreground is the old Michigan Motors Casting plant which became factory #38. Then beyond are the combined factories #31, #32 and #33 which became part of the Buick organization in 1917. These combined factories were then called #31. By 1940 the new axle plant north of Leith street was built and it then became #31.


In this photo taken in 1945 in front of the "Jam Shop" on Industrial avenue, you can see the demolition taking place in the background. This view is facing north east. Old factory #10 at this time part of the Unified assembly plant #62 is visible now that the Axle plant has been removed. This is where the new sheet metal plant #04 would soon be built. I found this family photo on Ancestry.com.

1 comment:

mike waider said...

My grandfathe was killed in the explosion at the dupont plant, and i was wondering if you might have information about it. I never met my grandfather and would like to know more Thanks!