Fisher Episode One - 1st & 2nd Floors

𝓐𝓵𝓵𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽...𝓕𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓑𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓽 21...𝓓𝓮𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓲𝓽, 𝓜𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓰𝓪𝓷...𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓭𝓸 𝔀𝓮 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽?
Let's start with the Fisher family. It was a BIG family, 7 brothers & 4 sisters. Their father was the son of a German immigrant, and he owned a shop in Ohio that built horse-drawn carriages. This was in the 1880's, 1890's.
In 1904, the two oldest brothers left the comfort of home to seek their fortune in what was soon to be known as the Motor City. The automobile manufacturing industry was in its infancy, but was about to pick up speed and just explode. Detroit was the epicenter, and the two Fisher brothers were right there in the middle of it all! They got a job at a Detroit shop that built both horse-drawn carriages and horseless carriages, or early auto bodies.
In 1908 they got a loan from a family member and started up the Fisher Body Company. The first factory was in Detroit, and they went on to build many more plants all over the region. Everything just fell into place perfectly...right place at the right time, coupled with good business decisions. The other 5 brothers moved up to Detroit, and the family business grew into an empire! They built auto bodies for Abbot, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, Oldsmobile, Packard, Pontiac, Studebaker and more!
𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓭𝓲𝓭 𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓢 𝓫𝓾𝓲𝓵𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮?
This 6-story building is the 21st factory built by Fisher Body. It went up in 1919 at a cost of $1.5 million. Fisher Body built over 40 factories and employed over 100,000 people. Their name was associated with quality and even opulence. Open up the door of almost any car from the time, and you'd likely see the iconic "Body By Fisher" logo on the door jamb.
1919, the year Plant 21 was built, was also the year in which General Motors bought a controlling 60% share of Fisher Body. In 1926 GM bought out the remaining 40%. The seven Fisher brothers stayed on as board members, but they were now freed up to pursue other projects...like commissioning Albert Kahn to build the Fisher Building in downtown Detroit for a whopping $9 Million (adjusted for inflation today...almost $120 million!)
𝓢𝓸 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓭𝓲𝓭 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓾𝓬𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼...𝓭𝓮𝓬𝓪𝔂?
Well really, it was more success & innovation that killed this place. These buildings were designed for assembly lines manned by skilled laborers doing work by hand. As automation and robots became more & more advanced, the work that could be done her grew more and more inefficient.
GM closed Fisher Body Plant 21 in 1984.
The building was purchased by an industrial paint company called Cameo Color Coat in 1985, but it wasn't long before they ran into financial troubles. Cameo passed ownership off (on paper anyway) to their subsidiary Carter Color Coat in 1990, but the whole company was bankrupt by 1993.
And Fisher Body Plant 21 has sat empty & abandoned since 1993. Well, not really EMPTY. She's been visited by scrappers, busting through walls to steal every last bit of copper they could find. She's been the site of huge raves, Halloween parties and 4th of July fireworks viewing from the roof. She's hosted graffiti artists of all skill levels. And she's been visited by people like you & me...the urban explorers, the photographers and video makers who find wonder in the explore and beauty in the decay.
In ten years this building may not be standing. Or it may be turned into a bunch of swanky apartments with a restaurant and a fitness center on the ground floor. (Imagine a fitness gym in the Fisher Plant, they could call it "Body By Fisher!" It'd be disgustingly perfect!) Or it could just continue to sit here and slowly deteriorate to the weather, or quickly be destroyed by the arson. Whatever change occurs, at some point people will want to look back at how it was. A floor-by-floor walkthrough will be a important piece of history.
THAT'S why I do this, this hobby of making videos about these places...I want to capture they way they are now, the way I see them, and share them with the world.

Original setup of Fisher Body Plant 21 in 1919 (according to Sanborn Fire Insurance maps from the Library of Congress)
1st Floor = Stock Room Area.
2nd Floor = Varnishing.
3rd Floor = Rubbing Varnish.
4th Floor = Trim Department.
5th Floor = Finishing.
6th Floor = Final Assembly.
In this video we explore the 1st and 2nd floors of Fisher Body Plant 21 as they were seen in October 2022.

Disclaimer: Pinetop Jackson does not break into buildings.
Every location I document is open with no sings warning against trespassing present.
I do not vandalize. While I do respect the graffiti I encounter, I do not practice this art.
My goal and my intent is to document these historically significant locations for posterity, and I enter them with respect.
I take nothing but photos (and video!) and leave nothing but footprints.

#detroiturbex #urbandecay #abandonedfactory

[ExploringWithBonnie]

I love Fisher. It's my favorite abandoned yet. Great video. Glad you got to visit it before its gone like the others.

[FinlayHamm]

9:30 That's calcium, the calcium draining out of the concrete's mixture when it decays. Like a stalagmite

[michaelallison]

abandoned and other structures keep the spray paint industry afloat

[allenbryant]

Is it possible that Schneider from One Day at a Time made the bricks at 2:00? I know he was in the Midwest around that time. Thank you