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Genesee County Porch Notes

Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Genesee County. This shelf has 6 practical notes and 57 local stories.

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History and culture Applewood: the apple-named estate of the man who steered Flint Applewood, the 1916 Flint home and gentleman's farm of GM leader Charles Stewart Mott, keeps an orchard of 29 heirloom apple varieties and opens its gardens to the public.
History and culture Berston Field House: the Flint gym that made an Olympic champion Berston Field House on Flint's north end opened in 1923, became the city's first recreation center to admit Black residents, and trained two-time Olympic gold medalist boxer Claressa Shields.
History and culture Flint's Capitol Theatre puts a fake Italian sky over your head The 1928 Capitol Theatre on Flint's Second Street is an atmospheric movie palace — designed to feel like a starlit Italian garden — that sat dark 20 years before a $37 million restoration reopened it in 2017.
Outdoors A 1938 WPA footbridge still hangs over the Flint River at Richfield Park Richfield County Park started Genesee County's park system in 1935, and its Depression-era suspension footbridge — hung from fieldstone towers over the Flint River — still carries walkers today.
Outdoors A Flushing subdivision that never got built is now 130 acres of riverfront trails Flushing Township Nature Park — roughly 130 acres of boardwalk, trails, and an observation deck on the Flint River — was platted for houses until a township supervisor suggested making it a park in 1992.
History and culture Before it was Montrose, the township was named Pewonigowink Montrose Township first organized in 1847 as Pewonigowink, named for a Saginaw Chippewa reservation along the Flint River — and held that name for less than a year.
History and culture Buick City: the world's biggest GM complex, now mostly open ground Flint's Buick City was once the largest GM complex on earth with 28,000 workers; the plant came down after 1999 and the cleared, cleaned site is finally being rebuilt as an industrial park.
History and culture Burton became a city in 1972 to keep Flint from swallowing it Burton, Genesee County's second-largest city, grew from the 1830s Atherton farming settlement on Thread Creek and incorporated as a city in 1972 — largely to stop Flint from annexing its land.
History and culture Clio's city park has hosted summer concerts since 1987 The Clio Area Amphitheater, an outdoor venue in Clio's city park, has run a summer season of music and theater since 1987 — including the long-running Clio Cast and Crew productions that began in 1989.
Outdoors Davison Township's swimming lake started with one man's fundraising Lake Callis Recreation Complex in Davison Township — 40 acres with an 18-acre swimming lake, beach, and splash pad — is named for Bob Callis, who raised the money to buy the land.
History and culture Fenton won its name in a card game The Genesee County town first called Dibbleville got its name from an 1837 card game: William Fenton won the town, and Robert LeRoy got the main street.
History and culture Fenton's community center was designed by the architect of Cranbrook The 1938 Fenton Community Center was designed by Eliel Saarinen — the same architect behind Cranbrook — and paid for by an auto-fortune gift, a piece of real modernist pedigree in a small town.
History and culture Flint sells produce in a building that once printed the newspaper The Flint Farmers' Market — open in some form since 1905 — moved in 2014 into the old Flint Journal printing plant on East First Street, two blocks from where it stood a century ago.
History and culture Flint was 'Vehicle City' before it ever built a car Flint earned its 'Vehicle City' nickname in the 1890s for horse-drawn carriages, not automobiles; lit arches once spanned Saginaw Street, and modern replicas stand downtown today.
Cars and driving Flint's airport sits on a banker's donated farm Bishop International Airport began in 1928 when banker Arthur Giles Bishop gave 220 acres of Genesee County farmland to Flint for flying; it now carries the airline traffic for mid-Michigan.
Outdoors Flushing's Riverview Trail, with a 200-foot bridge over the Flint River A 1.4-mile paved path through Flushing's wetlands crosses the Flint River on a 200-foot span and Cole Creek on a 72-foot one, turning the riverbank into an easy walk-and-fish route.
History and culture Gaines keeps its books in an 1884 train depot The Gaines Station branch of the Genesee District Library is the system's smallest, set in an 1884 yellow-brick railroad depot with the original walnut ticket windows still in place.
Money and taxes Genesee County pays a small tax that keeps the art museum free-ish In August 2018 Genesee County voters approved a countywide arts and culture millage that funds the Flint Cultural Center's institutions and grants to other arts groups — a property tax most Michigan counties don't levy.
History and culture Goodrich grew up around a creek somebody dammed in 1846 The Goodrich Mill Pond in Atlas Township is dammed-up Kearsley Creek, backed up by an 1846 grist mill that became the village's center for fishing, boating, and winter skating.
History and culture Grand Blanc built more than 18,000 tanks for World War II The Fisher Body plant in Grand Blanc turned out Sherman tanks, Pershings, and tank destroyers from 1942 to 1945 — and the same site still stamps steel for GM today.
History and culture Grand Blanc Township was once eight other townships, too Organized in 1833, Grand Blanc Township was Genesee County's first unit of government, and its original boundaries covered the ground that later split off into Flint, Burton, Davison, Fenton, and several other townships.
History and culture Kettering University, the Flint school General Motors used to own The engineering school on Flint's University Avenue spent 56 years owned outright by General Motors as GMI, training the company's engineers through a work-and-study co-op that still defines the place.
History and culture Michigan's biggest planetarium has hidden under a Flint dome since 1958 The Robert T. Longway Planetarium in Flint opened in 1958 under a geodesic-style dome 88 feet across and is still the largest planetarium in Michigan.
History and culture Mundy Township is named for Michigan's first lieutenant governor When Mundy Township organized in 1837, it took the name of Edward Mundy — the lawyer who served as Michigan's first lieutenant governor as the territory became a state.
History and culture Otisville is named for three brothers who bought 5,000 acres of pine The village of Otisville in Thetford Township grew up around a sawmill the Otis brothers bought in the 1850s, and a railroad-corridor trail now runs where their timber once shipped out.
History and culture Pine Run was the settlement the railroad left behind Pine Run was Vienna Township's first community, a logging-era hub with stores and saloons — until the railroad bypassed it for Clio in the 1860s and the town quietly faded.
History and culture Swartz Creek is named for the color of its water — 'black' in German The creek that gave the city its name runs dark, and German settlers called it swartz — black. The town it watered started life as Miller Settlement.
History and culture The Flint concert hall named for the man who brought Buick to town The 2,043-seat Whiting Auditorium on Flint's Cultural Center campus, opened in 1967, is named for James H. Whiting — the wagon-maker who talked his partners into buying Buick and moving it to Flint.
History and culture The Genesee County Fair has run near Mount Morris since the mid-1800s Genesee County has held a fair since the mid-1800s, now staged on the 690-acre Cummings Center along the Flint River at Mount Morris — demolition derbies, livestock barns, and all.
History and culture The Michigan School for the Deaf, on the same Flint ground since 1854 A state school for deaf children has stood on Flint's near west side since 1854, making it one of Michigan's oldest public institutions still doing the work it was built for.
Outdoors The Mounds: 370 acres built for getting stuck on purpose The Mounds ORV Park near Mount Morris has been turning Jeeps, trucks, and quads loose across hills, rocks, sand, and mud since 1971 — a county-run off-road playground.
History and culture The Whaley House, where a $2,000 loan helped start General Motors A banker in this Victorian house on Flint's Kearsley Street lent Billy Durant the seed money that grew into General Motors; the home is now a museum on the same street.
History and culture Tiger Woods won here: Warwick Hills and the Buick Open Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc Township hosted Michigan's only regular PGA Tour stop, the Buick Open, for decades — and the tour came back for a Champions event in 2018.
Outdoors You can paddle the Shiawassee River right through downtown Linden The Shiawassee River Heritage Water Trail runs for miles across mid-Michigan, and one of its mellow, warm-water stretches slips right past the old mill in downtown Linden.
History and culture Atwood Stadium: Flint's 1920s arena, saved by an engineering school Atwood Stadium, an 11,000-seat venue in Flint's Carriage Town, opened in the 1920s and is now owned by Kettering University, hosting soccer, high school sports, and concerts.
History and culture Clio was named for the Greek muse of history — by the women at a hotel party Clio, north of Flint, started as 'Varney' and was renamed for Clio, the Greek muse of history, after a hotel-keeper's appeal won over the women at an 1860s party.
History and culture Davison is named for a judge who actually lived next door, in Atlas Davison takes its name from pioneer and judge Norman Davison; the town grew as a railroad station in the 1870s and incorporated as a city in 1938.
History and culture Fenton's museum lives in a 1900 sash-factory office that became the town library The A.J. Phillips Fenton Museum fills a 1900 building once used as a manufacturer's office and later the town library, with genealogy and county cemetery records.
History and culture Flint built a planetarium, an art museum, and a library on one lawn A single Flint campus holds a science-and-history museum, a planetarium, an art institute, a theater, and the public library — built largely with auto-fortune giving.
History and culture Flushing's 1888 depot survived a fire and became the town museum Flushing's 1888 railroad depot, once a stop on the line between Durand and Saginaw, was restored by the local historical society and reopened as the Flushing Area Museum.
Outdoors For-Mar: a donated dairy farm that became Burton's 383-acre preserve For-Mar Nature Preserve in Burton — named for donors Forbes and Martha Merkley — protects 383 acres of woods, meadows, and trails on a former dairy farm.
History and culture Grand Blanc means 'great white' in French — and nobody's sure who that was Grand Blanc's name is French for 'great white,' given by traders who passed through before 1800, long before the town itself was settled and organized.
History and culture Linden's pre-Civil-War mill on the Shiawassee now lends books The historic Linden Mills building sits on the Shiawassee River in Linden and houses the public library and local history collection; its downtown is a registered historic district.
History and culture Montrose has thrown a Blueberry Festival every August since 1972 Since 1972, the small city of Montrose has held an August Blueberry Festival — a volunteer-run weekend of a parade, pancake breakfast, carnival, and contests.
Outdoors Stepping Stone Falls: the built waterfall that holds back Mott Lake A built dam-and-spillway on the Flint River backs up Mott Lake and steps the water down in tiers, lit with colored lights on summer nights northeast of Flint.
History and culture Argentine: the Genesee village named for silver Argentine, in southwest Genesee County, took a silver-tinged name in 1842 after starting life as 'Booton'; its mill outlived the village, and Lobdell Lake is dammed-up North Ore Creek.
Outdoors Bluebell Beach: a county lake beach with the area's first splash pad Bluebell Beach on Mott Lake, run by Genesee County Parks northeast of Flint, has a sand swimming beach, the area's first splash pad, and a connection to the Flint River Trail.
History and culture The filmmaker who chased GM's CEO grew up in Davison Michael Moore grew up in Davison, won a Michigan school board seat at 18, and turned his hometown's auto-plant collapse into the 1989 documentary 'Roger & Me.'
History and culture Crossroads Village & the Huckleberry Railroad: Step Back to the 1800s A living-history village of 34 historic buildings and a coal-fired steam train along Mott Lake — Genesee County's beloved trip back to the turn of the century, open since 1976.
History and culture The Flint Sit-Down Strike: 44 Days That Built the UAW For 44 days in the winter of 1936–37, Flint autoworkers occupied GM's Fisher Body plants and forced the company to recognize the UAW — a turning point for American labor.
History and culture The Little Brick Office Where General Motors Was Born A plain brick office on Flint's Water Street was the headquarters of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company — and is credited as the 1908 birthplace of General Motors. It's a National Historic Landmark.
Home and property Buying in Flint? An honest, up-to-date look at the water Flint's water crisis caused lasting harm, but the city's water meets standards today; buyers should still check service-line history and current reports.
History and culture Flint built the car — and helped build the American labor movement Flint is the birthplace of General Motors and the city where the 1936-37 Sit-Down Strike helped transform American labor.
Money and taxes Flint has a city income tax (and it's moving to state processing) Flint charges a 1% resident and 0.5% nonresident city income tax, with state processing scheduled for the 2026 tax year.
Home and property Flint's land bank: cheap lots and fixer-uppers, with a catch The Genesee County Land Bank sells Flint side lots and fixer-upper houses cheaply, but buyers need to budget for real rehab work.
History and culture Flint's Grand Funk Railroad Sold Out Shea Stadium Faster Than the Beatles Grand Funk Railroad, a hard-rock trio from Flint, sold out Shea Stadium in 72 hours in 1971 — faster than the Beatles had.
History and culture Koegel's Viennas: The Snap Heard 'Round the Mitten The natural-casing snap that a century of Michiganders grew up grilling — Flint's Koegel Vienna, made the same way since 1916.
History and culture What Exactly Is a "Coney Dog" — and Why Do Flint and Detroit Argue About It? A coney is a hot dog under a meaty, beanless sauce — and Detroit (wet and smooth) and Flint (dry and crumbly) have argued about how to make that sauce for a century.
History and culture The Olive Burger: Michigan's Love-It-or-Hate-It Sandwich Chopped green olives and a tangy mayo sauce on a burger — mid-Michigan's love-it-or-hate-it specialty, born in the old Kewpee chain.
Outdoors Michigan's six scramble areas (and the Silver Lake rulebook) The open-riding playgrounds of Michigan off-roading — Silver Lake's dunes, Holly Oaks, The Mounds, St. Helen, Bull Gap, and Black Lake — and the extra rules each one layers on.