Durant-Dort Carriage Company facts for kids
The Durant-Dort Carriage Company was a very important business that made horse-drawn vehicles in Flint, Michigan. It started in 1886. By 1900, it had become the biggest carriage maker in the whole country!
This super successful company made its founders, William C. Durant and J. Dallas Dort, very rich. It also became the main building block for them to create General Motors, a huge car company.
Durant left the carriage business in 1914. The company stopped making carriages in 1917. The Durant-Dort Carriage Company officially closed down in 1924.
The buildings were then used by J. Dallas Dort's own car company, the Dort Motor Car Company, which he closed in 1924.
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Starting the Flint Road-Cart Company
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In 1886, William C. Durant rode in a special cart. It had springs, making the ride super smooth! This cart was made by the Coldwater Road-Cart Company.
Durant was so impressed that he went to Coldwater. He bought the rights to make this special cart for $1500. He teamed up with Josiah Dallas Dort, making him an equal partner. Together, they started the Flint Road-Cart Company.
Dort became the president. He took care of the office work and making sure the carts were built. At first, another company, William A. Paterson's, made the carts for them. Durant was in charge of selling the carts and telling everyone about them. Their first office was in Durant's fire insurance office in downtown Flint.
Durant had borrowed money to buy the rights to the cart. So, right after getting married, he left Flint. He traveled to places like Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago. He set up a network of sellers for the carts. He only had one finished cart at home. But when he came back from his first trip, he had orders for 600 carts!
The Flint Road-Cart Company sold 4,000 carts in its very first year. It grew incredibly fast from there.
In 1893, they officially made the Flint Road-Cart Company a bigger business. They raised a lot of money from local people. They also rented a factory on Water Street. This factory used to be a wool mill. There, they put together their road-carts using parts they bought from other companies.
After that, the Flint Road-Cart Company grew even more. They started or bought other businesses. These businesses made not only vehicles but also the parts for them. They called their products "Blue Ribbon Vehicles."
Becoming Durant-Dort Carriage Company
The Flint Road-Cart Company changed its name in November 1895. It became the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. By 1900, they were building 50,000 vehicles every year! They had about 14 different locations. They were a major competitor to the Flint Wagon Works.
In 1906, they were making 480 vehicles every single day with 1,000 workers. Durant-Dort owned many things. This included not just the factories in Flint. They also had other vehicle assembly plants in Michigan, Georgia, and Ontario, Canada. Plus, they owned timberland, lumber mills, a wheel factory, the Flint Axle Works, and the Flint Varnish Works.
Diamond Buggy Company
A separate company called Diamond Buggy Company was started in 1896. Its job was to build cheaper carts. These carts were sold only for cash. A.B.C. Hardy was the first manager of this factory.
Making Their Own Parts
Durant decided it would be better to make their own parts. This way, Durant-Dort could control costs better. They could also make things more efficiently.
- 1897: They started the Flint Gear and Top Company.
- 1898: They bought the Imperial Wheel Company in Jackson. Later, Imperial Wheel moved to Flint. Buick took over the old Jackson factory.
- 1900: They started the Flint Axle Works. This was on a farm north of Flint. They put it there so the noise wouldn't bother people as much.
- 1901: They started the Flint Varnish Works.
All the factories that made parts were moved to Flint. This helped speed up production even more. All these new activities put a lot of pressure on Durant's friends. Dallas Dort actually left the business in 1898. He didn't come back until 1900.
A.B.C. Hardy went on a trip to Europe in 1901. While there, he became very interested in cars. In 1902, he started his own company, the Flint Automobile Company. He built over fifty cars. However, he stopped making cars and moved away.
Dort Motor Car Company
Durant-Dort kept making horse-drawn vehicles until 1917. But starting in 1915, the factory and office buildings changed. They began to focus on making Dort Motor Car Company automobiles.
J. Dallas Dort started his own car business, the Dort Motor Car Company, in 1915. Dort used the old Durant-Dort buildings. He also added more buildings to them. Dort shipped 9,000 cars in his first year! J. Dallas Dort decided to retire. He closed the Dort Motor Car Company in 1924. He passed away the next year.
Key People and Connections
A.B.C. Hardy and Early Cars
Alexander Brownell Cullen Hardy (1869–1948) started working at Durant-Dort in 1889. By 1895, he was in charge of making the Diamond, a low-cost buggy. In 1898, J. Dallas Dort took a break from being president of Durant-Dort. Hardy stepped in to take his place.
After Dort returned in 1900, Hardy took his own break. While traveling in Europe, he discovered cars. When he came back, he supposedly told Durant to "get out of the carriage business before the automobile ruins you." Durant didn't act right away. So, Hardy started his own company, the Flint Automobile Company, in 1901. This was Flint's first car maker.
However, his company's car didn't sell well. In 1903, the Flint Automobile Company closed. Hardy returned to Durant-Dort. He later became a vice-president at General Motors until he retired in 1925.
Flint Wagon Works and Buick
Durant started to lose interest in the Flint businesses. He set up an office in New York. A.B.C. Hardy tried to get him interested in cars. Eventually, James Whiting of Flint Wagon Works convinced Durant to get involved with their Buick car project. This became a huge interest for Durant.
Durant used his own money and money from Durant-Dort to buy control of Buick. David Buick, who had started the company, was left with only one share of his own business. However, Durant agreed to keep Buick working for the company. Buick stayed until 1906, when Durant bought his last share for $100,000.
McLaughlin Carriage Company
Other people who helped start the car industry were also connected to Durant-Dort. R. S. McLaughlin led the McLaughlin Motor Car Company in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. His family's carriage company started in 1867. By 1900, it built more carriages than any other Canadian business.
W. C. Durant and his Canadian son-in-law, Dr. Edwin Campbell, were friends with the McLaughlins. They exchanged shares in each other's car businesses. Campbell was a school friend of R. S. McLaughlin.
Nash Motors
Charles W. Nash started working at Durant-Dort in 1891. He began in the cushion department. But he quickly worked his way up to foreman. By 1898, he was the factory superintendent. Nash became a director and vice-president of the company in 1900. He held this job until 1913. In 1910, Nash was hired as the general manager of General Motors. In 1917, he started his own company, Nash Motors.
