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Flint was founded in 1819 as a trading post on what was
then called the Flint River. The town was first platted in 1830
and had several names in its early days. Flint became the final
name in 1836 and the city was incorporated in 1855. [MPN]
There
are two rail lines which came to Flint. The first was the Flint
& Pere Marquette which was built from downtown Flint north to
Saginaw in 1859. The line was extended south to Holly in 1864
and later to the Detroit area. The east-west Grand Trunk came to town in 1871 from Port Huron, and
was finished west of town towards Durand in 1876. The Pere
Marquette built their belt line in 1921 to the east (which became
their new main line sometime in the 1950's). The PM continued to
use their old main line for passenger trains until they were taken off
in the 1940's. [CW] The GTW
also built a new main line south of town to avoid the congestion and
serve new auto plants there.
The
Pere Marquette (later C&O/CSX) had exclusive rights to serve the large
Buick City complex, which was located on their original main line
south of McGrew Yard. Buick City was closed in the 1990's and is
being demolished. McGrew Yard is now is mostly used for car
storage. |