Janesville Assembly Plant
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Janesville Assembly Plant in 2009
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| Built | May 1, 1919 |
|---|---|
| Location | Janesville, Wisconsin |
| Industry | Automotive industry |
| Products | cars and trucks |
| Employees | 7,000 workers at its peak in 1970 |
| Volume | 4,800,000 sq ft (446,000 m³) |
| Owner(s) | General Motors |
| Defunct | April 23, 2009 |
 "Last day at GM" Janesville Gazette photos from December 23, 2008 |
Janesville Assembly Plant is a former automobile factory owned by General Motors located in Janesville, Wisconsin. Opened in 1919, it was the oldest operating GM plant when it was largely idled in December 2008, and ceased all remaining production on April 23, 2009.
The plant covers 4,800,000 square feet (446,000 m³). It employed around 7,000 workers at its peak in 1970, but was down to about 1,200 when it ceased production of GM vehicles in December 2008.
In 1918, the Samson Tractor division of General Motors was formed from the merger of Samson Tractor of California and the Janesville Machine Company, a farm implement manufacturer. A Samson Tractor Division plant employing 3,000 workers was opened in Janesville in 1919, with the first tractor produced on May 1, 1919. A farm depression that started in 1920 forced Samson to curtail production and lay off more than 1,000 workers. Samson eventually went bankrupt. Although General Motors wanted to abandon the Janesville plant, its general manager, Joseph A. Craig, convinced the company to stay, and in 1920 GM transferred its truck production from Flint, Michigan to the Janesville plant.
Chevrolet began producing automobiles at the plant in 1923. In the same year, an adjacent Fisher Body plant began construction. Production at the factory was halted during the Great Depression for about a year. In 1937 union organizers led a sit-down strike, part of a nationwide series of strikes at GM, which quickly resulted in a national contract. During World War II, the Janesville plants were taken over by General Motors' Oldsmobile Division, and produced artillery.
Production of automobiles resumed following the war. In 1953, a second shift was added to both the Chevrolet and the Fisher Body factories. In April 1967, the 100 millionth GM vehicle was produced at the Chevrolet plant.
Janesville Assembly was one of the plants operated under Chevrolet Assembly management prior to General Motors Assembly Division management (most established pre-1945).
The terminology is confusing because most plants assembled more than just Chevrolet or B-O-P, and refers to the management structure only. The five brands originated vehicles from their respective "home" plants, where vehicles were assembled locally for their respective regions. Vehicles were also produced in "knock-down" kits and sent to the branch assembly locations. The "home" branches were Flint, Michigan for both Buick and Chevrolet; Oldsmobile at Lansing, Michigan; Pontiac at Pontiac, Michigan; and Cadillac at Detroit, Michigan.
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