Aluminum And Brass Foundry Fire And Explosion 1913.

This is the original photograph from the Buick Research Gallery. This view is facing east with the Pere Marquette main line in the distance.

This view (that I crudely) colorized was for detail purposes during my research.

July 23, 1913.

A view inside the old aluminum and brass foundry at Buick that was known as #15. This building was attached at the north end of the #03 forge plant. This view is facing south. The angled building (below) with box cars on either side was part of the area destroyed in the 1913 fire. The photo after the fire (At top) shows the area just beyond this angled section. The angled area farthest north does look to be made entirely of wood as Chrysler stated. This view is facing south-west. That is factory #12 at the right. These two photos are from around 1909.

April 16, 1910.

These are articles published in various trade journals of the time following the fire and explosion at the Buick factory on January 17, 1913. In the book "The Life And Times Of An Automotive Genius" by Vincent Curcio (published in 2000), that tells the life story of Walter Chrysler and includes much about the early years at Buick, he places the date of the fire as January of 1917. He states that the article (showing 1917) was from "The Horseless Age" trade journal. I have read that particular article and it is 1913, so it must have been a typo in Vincents book. This information had me more than a bit confused for some time. I'm just glad that this mystery has finally been solved. They did not rebuild at this same location as was stated in one of the articles. The posting before this one (the pickling room) shows this area as a steel storage lot. I'm thinking that this was when the brass & aluminum work was moved (temporarily) into factory #12 until the new foundry could be built.

This is from “The Life And Times Of An Automotive Genius” by Vincent Curcio, published in 2000. This book chronicling Walter Chrysler’s life and also early career at Buick is showing an explosion and fire in 1917. The New York Times article says this happened in 1913.

 Link: Aluminum And Brass Foundry Fire And Explosion 1913.  News from 1925 explaining heat treat at Buick. 1913 fire

This angled building with the box cars on either side was the area destroyed in the 1913 fire. This angled area which is the north-end of the forge building does look to be made entirely of wood as Chrysler stated. This view is facing south-west. That is factory #12 at the right.

This 1917 advertisement is supposedly Buick. After much study I think the area to the left in the photo  above this one (between #03 & #12) That could be factory #11 in the background. That would make this a north facing view.