Durant-Dort Carriage Company was a manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in Flint, Michigan. Founded in 1886 in 1900 it was US's largest carriage manufacturer.
This very successful business made the partners rich men and it became the core on which William C Durant and J Dallas Dort began to build General Motors.
Durant sold out of this business in 1914 and it finished carriage manufacture in 1917.
Video Durant-Dort Carriage Company
Flint Cotton & Woolen Mills
The factory premises were built in Water Street in the early 1880s to house what proved an unsuccessful diversification of their cotton business. Dort and Durant leased the premises and made it their Flint Road Cart Factory.
Maps Durant-Dort Carriage Company
Horse-drawn carts, wagons and carriages
Flint Road Cart
In 1886 William C. Durant rode in a friend's spring-suspension road cart built by the Coldwater Road Cart Company of Coldwater, Michigan. Impressed with the smoothness of the ride, Durant obtained the patent and manufacturing rights to the cart for $2000 and, with Josiah Dallas Dort, founded Flint Road Cart that same year. Dort, as president, handled manufacturing and administrative details for the firm while Durant handled sales and promotion. The firm first had their offices located in Durant's insurance agency in downtown Flint. They leased a factory on Water Street, originally used by the Flint Woolen Mills, to produce road carts. Flint Road Cart sold 4000 carts its first year, and quickly grew from there. Under Durant's leadership Flint Road Cart expanded by acquiring other businesses that produced not only vehicles, but the components for vehicles as well.
Durant-Dort Carriage Company
In 1895 Flint Road Cart was incorporated as the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. By 1900 Durant-Dort was the largest producer of horse-drawn vehicles in the United States. In 1906, its peak year, it produced 56,000 vehicles. Durant-Dort owned not just the Flint manufacturing works, but also other vehicle assembly plants in Michigan, Georgia, and Ontario,together with timberland, lumber mills, a wheel manufacturer, the Flint Axle Works, and the Flint Varnish Works.
Durant-Dort continued making horse-drawn vehicles until 1917 but from 1915 the factory and office buildings refocused on the manufacture of Dort Motor Car Company automobiles.
Associates
McLaughlin Carriage Company
In addition to Durant and Dort, other automobile pioneers were associated with the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. R. S. McLaughlin headed the McLaughlin Carriage Company in Oshawa, Ontario, which started in 1867 and was a multimillion-dollar firm that had a patent on carriage gear that was used in many start-up carriage companies. W. Durant and Dr. E Campbell were friends with the McLaughlins, and the investment of 500,000 shares of McLaughlin Stock for 500,000 shares of Buick stock in 1907 created the Holding Company of General Motors Holding Company in 1908. Dr. E. Campbell was the Canadian son-in-law of W. Durant and school friend of R. S. McLaughlin as director of the new holding company and president of the McLaughlin Car Company Limited. R. S. McLaughlin left his directors job in Flint when W Durant did in 1910 only to start The Chevrolet Motor Company of Canada Limited in 1915, and has been building Chevrolets for over 100 years in Ontario. The archives contain the names of all the directors of General Motors and Vice-Presidents from 1918 when it was incorporated as a corporation with Chevrolet as Chevrolet stocks had from 1916 held the greatest number of shares. R S McLaughlin sold off his Chevrolet outstanding stocks for this to happen. R.S. McLaughlin never sold off the Canadian Assets to the Corporation also stated in Penn State Archives.
Flint Automobile Company
Alexander Brownell Cullen Hardy began working at Durant-Dort in 1889. By 1895, he was supervising production of the Diamond, a low-cost road cart. In 1898, J. Dallas Dort took a two-year leave of absence from his position as president of Durant-Dort, and Hardy stepped into his place. After Dort's return in 1900, Hardy took his own leave of absence, and while touring Europe discovered the automobile. On his return, he supposedly told Durant to "get out of the carriage business before the automobile ruins you." Although Durant didn't act at the time, Hardy struck out on his own and established the Flint Automobile Company, Flint's first automotive manufacturer, in 1901. However, the company's Roadster failed to distinguish itself from the popular, lower-priced Oldsmobile, and in 1903 the Flint Automobile Company folded. Hardy returned to Durant-Dort and wound up as vice-president of General Motors until his retirement in 1925.
Nash Motors
Charles W. Nash began working at Durant-Dort in 1891 working in the cushion department, but soon worked his way up to foreman, and, by 1898, factory superintendent. Nash was named a director and vice-president of the firm in 1900, a position he held until 1913. In 1910, Nash was hired as general manager of General Motors, and in 1917 founded Nash Motors.
Buick
David Dunbar Buick founded Buick Motor Company, with financial help from Benjamin Briscoe. However, by 1904 the firm was in financial trouble, and Durant stepped in, using his own capital and that of Durant-Dort to buy out the company. Buick, already a minority partner in his eponymous company, was left with a single share of the enterprise. However, Durant agreed to keep Buick on as an employee, and Buick remained with the firm until 1906, when Durant bought out his single share for $100,000.
Dort Motor Car Company
J. Dallas Dort began his own independent automotive business, Dort Motor Car Company, in 1915. Dort used the old Durant-Dort buildings but but added more to them. Dort shipped 9000 cars in its first year. J Dallas Dort decided to retire and liquidated Dort Motor Car Company in 1924 and died the following year.
Notes
See also
- Ford Piquette Avenue Plant
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Genesee County, Michigan
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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