The Ever-Changing Flint
If you have lived anywhere for long enough, you know that a city can change drastically from year to year. And, if you’ve ever lived in Flint, you know it’ll happen around here even faster.
The habitual change of Flint’s architectural landscape is not a recent trend but is a pattern of growth and development that this city has seen for over 150 years.
Today, we are detailing one such occurrence back in the late 1800s to the early 1900s with the home of Chauncey S. Payne. A home that turned from a private residence to a college, to a sanitarium, burned down, to a sanitarium again, a hospital, housing for hospital staff, a boarding house, and then being sold all within 25 years.
Chauncy Smith Payne was born on November 16th, 1795, in New York. He later went on to marry his wife Annoketoqua, who was later given the name “Louisa Lavinia Smith.” From there they lived in Detroit, noted on census records of being there in 1825. In the 1830s, Flint Michigan was a city in development with many early Flint families arriving to settle on the land recently acquired by the Smith family. Starting in 1837, Chauncy lived within his newly constructed home in Flint, Michigan.
Photograph of Chauncey S. Payne
For 40 years, the property remained static. Chauncey and his wife Annoketoqua lived within their home until the year 1877 when Chauncey S. Payne passed away. In 1889, after the passing of Annoketoqua (his wife) in 1888, the home became Flint Normal College.
Photograph of the Flint Normal College, Flint Michigan. 1880
Flint Normal College inhabited this home between the years of 1889 and 1894 until Dr. Rev. Sarah Allen, a local and spiritualist medium, acquired the property and converted it into a sanitarium. Sanitariums in this case were a mixture of a health spa and a hospital, normally designed to focus on specific health issues instead of a wide variety of cases that a hospital would see. Sarah was a medically trained doctor, studying medicine in Ohio before opening her practice within Flint. The Flint Journal names many patients that went to her establishment. The sanitarium then burned down in 1895, but Sarah Allen rebuilt the structure and continued her sanitarium.
The Sanitarium continued for 6 years following the fire, eventually being purchased by Dr. R. N. Murray and his daughter in 1901. These two then turned the sanitarium into a women’s hospital, which ran for four years in this building.
Photograph of the “Flint Hospital” and two employees. Ca. 1900.
The new hospital, named the “Flint Hospital” is believed to be a precursor to McClaren, primarily focusing on women’s health.
During the Flint Hospital’s tenure, three different fires were reported on the grounds, destroying the kitchen, a chimney, and portions of the building’s frame. Over 100 procedures were conducted and advertised in the newspaper on patients both within and outside of the county.
In 1906 the building, still owned by the Murray family, was then turned into a boarding house. Only one year later, the building went up for sale. After this, the storyline of this property becomes nonexistent. While the property was potentially in use, information is scarce as to the exact future of the plot of land.
1988 is when history picks back up. Carriage Town Ministries, both a religious organization and a community support tool, opened its doors in 1950. 38 years later, the organization relocated to the corner of Garland and 3rd (now University Rd.).
Now, an additional 38 years later, Carriage Town Ministries still exists on that street corner, continuing to serve the community with hot meals, warm beds, and a network of professionals to help those that need it.
Beyond this property, change doesn’t stop here at Garland and University. Halo Burger, having started in Flint over 100 years ago, returned to Flint after its restaurant shuttered its doors in 2023. Flint saw the opening of a Costco just last year as well-as consistent renovation within the Cultural Center as Flint Central High has begun groundbreaking on their new high school building, built at the site of the original Flint Central Highschool.
Further Information
Interested in learning more about the businesses that make up Genesee County? The Sloan Museum of Discovery currently has a display on Flint businesses within the History Gallery.
Want to know more about this blog post? Chad Hitchcock - CHitchcock@SloanLongway.org
What to conduct more research? Rachel Stock - Collections@SloanLongway.org
