General Motors has reopened its Durant-Dort Factory One which is considered to be the company’s birthplace.
Originally leased by William “Billy” Durant and Josiah Dort in 1886, the plant was home to the Flint Road Cart Company which later became the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. The company would grow to become one of the world’s largest carriage makers but the introduction of the automobile changed everything.
In order to meet changing consumer interests, Durant took control of Buick and transformed it into one of the “most successful car companies in the country.” This success paved the way for the creation of General Motors in 1908.
Of course, the success of the automobile caused carriage sales to decline and the Durant-Dort Carriage factory ceased production in 1917. The building would go on to house a number of different businesses before falling into disrepair. General Motors eventually purchased the building in 2013 and started an extensive restoration project to turn the building into a research and community meeting center.
The building will be open to the public by appointment and event space for 300 people will be available to rent for corporate, community, and educational events.
One of the big draws of the building will be its massive archive of approximately 100,000 historical documents, photos, and other artifacts related to carriage building and the early automotive industry. The archive includes thousands of documents from Durant’s estate as well as papers from notable GM employees such as Charles Kettering and Elliott “Pete” Estes.
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