The Flint Faience & Tile Company

In 1921, Flint Faience & Tile Company was organized as a subsidiary of the Champion Ignition Company, which later became the AC Spark Plug Company, located in Flint, Michigan, where it had been in operation since being incorporated on October 26, 1908. 

Both history and legend tell the story of the tile company coming into existence because AC Spark Plug wanted to more fully utilize the spark plug kilns that were idle during part of the production process.  Additionally, the spark plug company already had on its staff, talented research engineers, ceramic experts and other technicians who with the existing tunnel kilns and machinery, allowed for a relatively easy transition into the tile manufacturing industry. 

The tile plant was initiated in a building on Harriet Street adjacent to the main plant.  As it outgrew its quarters, a new and more spacious plant was erected on Davison Road and Dort Highway in 1928.  In April 1929, in their publication AC Sparks, the company announced that “the increasing demand for Flint Faience recently made it necessary to virtually double the capacity” of their “tile plant and another modern tunnel kiln, and more loading dock space have been added together with other modern facilities.”