Civic Park

In 1916, as a flood of new workers for Flint’s automobile factories caused housing shortages, the directors of the Flint Board of Commerce formed the Civic Building Association. The association had built 133 houses on 400 acres of farmland by December 1917, when a slump in the automobile industry and World War I slowed construction. After the 1918 Armistice, General Motors Corporation agreed to complete the project. The Dupont Company, General Motors’ controlling shareholder, organized the Modern Housing Corporation, which added 280 acres and constructed 950 homes in less than nine months. At the peak of construction, Dupont employed 4,600 people. Postwar house prices ranged from $3,500 to $8,000. A typical home had five or six rooms, a slate roof, an open porch, and a basement. Curved streets, planned park areas, and tree-lined boulevards added to the attractiveness of the community.