Friday, November 19, 2010

Factory #08 Garage.










October 24, 1906 article of Buick's intention to build factory #08 garage. Judging by the time needed back then for building construction I would guess that #08 was open for business in late 1907 or early 1908.










Article about the beginning of the D.U.R. at the Buick plant.







September 2, 1920 Motor Age announcement.










This south view shows the area of the building being attached to W.F.Stewart #4 body plant. That is the Stewart factory #3 directly south of #08. This is another of those misidentified photos from the Buick Research Gallery. Dated August 17, 1920.










This south-east view taken from the Buick main office shows the third story addition being added in 1920. This is misidentified as the main office.










This west facing view up Hamilton Avenue from St. John Street (James P. Cole Blvd. now) shows the relationship of factory #08 with the other factories located along Hamilton ave.










A close up view of the D.U.R. terminal and ticket office (shown below). In this photo from 1925 it does not look like it was being used anymore. "Notice the Buick body trucks at the left".

Brand new.
Link: Interesting story about the early D.U.R. 










Factory #08 is looking quite good now. That is the D.U.R. (Detroit United Railway) terminal for the Inter Urban cars of that period in the foreground.










This west facing view shows a lot of construction work is just finishing up. Dated September 22, 1920.










The announcement for the start of "The Buick Bulletin" in the Horseless age.









Here we have a 1912 Buick sitting in front of factory #08 along Hamilton Avenue. This view is facing north-east with the original Buick main office at the left. The old Imperial Wheel Co. is in the right background. This particular car is stripped for racing. I wish I knew who was sitting behind the wheel?











This street level view (facing south-east) shows factory #08 (or as it was always called) "The Buick Garage". At the time of this photo the two story structure included a showroom and was also the location for the publication of the Buick Bulletin magazine (see article above). After 1920 and the attachment of the third floor with factory #04 body shop, it was now a true manufacturing facility. During World War II some assembly of tank transmissions took place here. When I was a kid in the fifty's we used to park behind this factory and wait for my father getting out of work. The two photos below show construction.



This is the first floor of factory #08 after the cement work that is seen being performed below.







"The Buick Garage" getting ready for cement. In this east facing view we can see the "Flint Axle" factory. The unique smoke stacks of the "Flint Varnish Works" are off to the right. At the far left, across Hamilton Ave., can be seen the "Imperial Wheel Works". Links:
Oak Park Industries Imperial Wheel Company Had Many Faces












Brand new.





Links:
Ruth Nash
Industrial & Hamilton Avenue 1913
Factory #08 1923
Buick 1920 Aerial View
Buick 1910
Overview Buick 1938
Hamilton Avenue #4-#08 And Weston-Mott

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