Flint River - A Jewel of Flint's Past

Flint River - A JEWEL OF FLINT'S PAST

By Tony Martin

Kudos Magazine - Special Edition 2016

The Flint River is the reason that settlers chose to locate here and Flint owes its name to the river’s hard, rocky bottom. After several other names, the locals decided to name their new settlement “Flint River” after the local Indian name Pawanunking, which referred to the river bottom. Flint River was shortened to Flint in 1836. The city incorporated in 1855.

The river has always been central to business life throughout the city’s various incarnations as a trapping/fur center, a logging town, then carriage builder and most recently auto manufacturer.
While business leaders embraced the river for its economic advantages, residents made the river and the parks along its banks the center of their recreational lives.
A popular weekend activity was making a lunch basket and renting a boat. Residents would boat to one of the parks along the river. The city’s Water Works plant opened in 1912 as a filtration plant. Water Works park was built in the same era across the river from where Buick was located. It had a dance pavilion and picnic grounds.The park on Moon Island was owned by the Atwood family and also had a dance pavilion. After the Flood of 1916 washed away the attractions, the site was used as a trash dump until city leaders decided to fill in the channel and construct Atwood Stadium in 1917.Another popular attraction was Crapo Island, which was in the center of the river near where Buick was built. It was used as a docking area for the excursion boats that took day-trippers up and down the river. The Smith Brothers operated one of the excursion companies and, for the price of a ticket, people could board their boat, the Genesee, and spend the day cruising the river and seeing the progress on its banks. Crapo Island also was lost in the Flood of 1916, which changed the course of the river.
The river was a great place for romance. Young couples would often rent or borrow a boat and spend the day taking advantage of some lonely spot on the river enjoying private moments.
It also was a popular place for fishing, with bass, trout and carp being the main catches. There were even a few commercial netting operations in the river in the 1900s.
The beauty of the river wasn’t lost to pollution as you might think. It fell victim to devastating floods that changed its features and destroyed the scenery, including the Flood of 1916 that washed away the boating docks.
flint native tony Martin lives in nebraska, but has always retained his love of his hometown’s history. He created a facebook group, the History of Flint and Genesee County, as a way to share local and state history. the Facebook page has more than 2,700 members.