Historic Districts - Flint Road
Cart Factory
 This
one-story mill was built in the early 1880s as part of an
unsuccessful effort to diversify the Flint Woolen Mills. In 1886, J.
Dallas Dort and Billy Durant began leasing it to manufacture road
carts. By the end of its first year of operation, their Flint Road
Cart Company had produced 4,000 vehicles The company later expanded
to produce four-wheeled carriages, wagons and, for a short time,
bicycles. The company ceased carriage manufacturing in 1917, and
this building and other surrounding factories were converted to the
manufacture of the Dort Motor car.
Durant-Dort Carriage Factory No.
1
Built in 1888 this building
exemplifies the dramatic growth of the Flint Road Cart Company,
which became the
Durant-Dort
Carriage Company. During the 1890s, Durant-Dort expanded its
Blue Ribbon line to include Webster Vehicle farm wagons, the
Victoria Vehicle Company's mail-order business and the Diamond Buggy
Company. By 1900, Durant-Dort was the largest volume producer of
horse-drawn vehicles in the United States. In 1906, its peak year,
it employed 1,000 people and produced 56,000 vehicles.
Registered Site L1395
Erected 1988
Location: 311 Water Street
Flint, Genesee County |
