History of The Berridge and Tinlinn

Berridge Hotel circa 1940's (Courtesy of Kettering University)

General Motors was founded by Billy Durant & J. Dallas Dort in September 1908 with Buick being their 1st model.  The company grew fast during its first years as carriage factories were converted to automobile plants. The proximity of the auto factories to the Carriage Town neighborhood was ideal for auto company executives and workers. The sudden explosion of population in the area made for a housing shortage.  A tent city sprung up near the river. Boarding houses operated in shifts similar to the factories, allowing second shift workers to use the beds of the first shift workers while they were gone to work.

Current Tinlinn front door header restored

Realizing the need for upscale housing to be able to attract executives with needed skills, the Tinlinn building was built in 1911 on a side lot of the home of J. Dallas Dort.  To blend in with the scale of the Queen Anne style homes already built on the street, the building was built in the modern Craftsman Style.  The Majority of the tenants during the initial ten years were executives tied directly to the auto industry, including: John Thomas, Supt. & Geo Hull, Engineer of the Weston Mott Co.; Miles Fox, Supt. & James Van Cleve, Sales Manager of the Dort Motor Co.; James Miner, Foreman & John Baumgardner, Chief Chemist of the Buick Motor Co.

As housing became more available the tenants gradually moved to homes elsewhere in the City.  By the late 1920's the Tinlinn Building was a mix of auto executives and other business owners from the near downtown area.  The Tinlinn was operated as a four unit apartment building until it was closed in 1999.

John C. Berridge was born in Flint in 1879, one of ten children of Walter & Nellie Berridge, the 3rd generation of an English family that came to Michigan in 1835. John became a pharmacist & owner of the Flint Drug Co. located at 529 N Saginaw.  In 1919 John purchased the Tinlinn apartment building and an adjoining lot where the former home of J. Dallas Dort was located.

Berridge Hotel lobby circa 1950's (Courtesy of Kettering University)

In 1926 he hired Detroit contractor John A. Pearl to build a 100 bed hotel at the site for a cost of $200,000. Advertising for the hotel promoted a homelike place to stay.  Rates were $1.50 and up.  One commercial space was occupied by the Chateau restaurant where lunch was $.50 and dinner $1.00. The Chateau lasted only one year and was replaced by the Berridge Coffee Shop that was operated until the 1960's.  The other commercial space was initially an insurance agency but was soon converted to the Berridge Tap Room.

Berridge Hotel Cafe circa 1950's (Courtesy of Kettering University)

Berridge operated the hotel until 1938 when Citizens Bank foreclosed on the mortgage for both the Tinlinn & Berridge.  The properties were purchased by C.J. Buehlmann, manager of the Capital Hotel (across form the Capital Theater) and he operated them until his death in 1957.  His Widow and daughter took up residence and operated the hotel as a "European Plan hotel with rates from $3.00 per day."