Beyond the Bricks: A photo tour of Saginaw Street

Seventy-five-year-old Dan Spaniola stands in the storefront of Paulâs Pipe Shop, puffing on his favorite pipe filled with hand-blended tobacco that he likely made himself, gazing at downtown Saginaw Street–the place his family business has called home for generations.

Itâs been eight years since his father, the six-time pipe smoking champion and founder of the shop Paul Spaniola died just six months after his 100th birthday, but Dan and his son Carl continue to spend every day working, keeping the business alive.

The inconspicuous storefront with a sign that reads âCaution: This is not a smoke-free establishment. Please hold your breath while I smokeâ leads you into the shop which, according to Spaniola, is host to almost a million pipes. Like many doorways on Saginaw Street, it’s an entrance to not just a shop, but history of the city.

The shop has had 4 locations during its 93 years in business, and for over 40 years it has been among the many businesses, homes, and parks that make Saginaw Street what it is. Segmenting the city from north to south, to travel along Saginaw Street is to pass by a storied history of Flint, Michigan.

Saginaw Street is also host to events like the Crim Festival of Races, Back to the Bricks, the Gus Macker basketball tournament, to name a few, and it is the location of many Flint Public Art Project murals.

Scroll through our pictures below for a visual tour of the street that defines so much of the city.

Cars are stored in the parking lot of Iggy’s Hub Caps, which is located at 3640 South Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. on Nov. 10, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

South Saginaw Street facing northbound on Nov. 10, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

A rainbow appears over a vacant building on South Saginaw Street after the first rain shower of the year on March 24, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

One of the over one hundred murals in Flint, located on the side of a structure on South Saginaw Street on Nov. 8, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Two houses wedged between commercial structures on South Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. on Nov. 8, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Yahong Yang, 34, of Auburn Hills, works the register at her parents’ restaurant, Cantonese Gourmet Inc. South on Nov. 8, 2021. The restaurant, which originally was opened in the mid-1980’s, is located at 3205 S. Saginaw Street and has been owned by Yang’s parents for over 15 years. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
The Cantonese Gourmet Inc. South on Nov. 8, 2021, located at 3205 S. Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. The popular south side restaurant has seen a dip in sales lately due to COVID-19 as well as construction making it difficult for some customers to conveniently get to it. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Yahong Yang, 34, of Auburn Hills, works the register at her parents’ restaurant, Cantonese Gourmet Inc. South on Nov. 8, 2021. The restaurant, which originally was opened in the mid-1980’s, is located at 3205 S. Saginaw Street and has been owned by Yang’s parents for over 15 years. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Customers leave The Cantonese Gourmet Inc. South restaurant with take-out on Nov. 8, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Chicago-based artist Joe Miller paints one of his signature dot-style murals on the side of Green Bush Organics located at 2211 S. Saginaw Street on July 22, 2021. This is Millers second mural in Flint via the Flint Public Art Project. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Chicago-based artist Joe Miller paints one of his signature dot-style murals on the side of Green Bush Organics located at 2211 S. Saginaw Street on July 22, 2021. This is Millers second mural in Flint via the Flint Public Art Project. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Sunni DiLuzio, girlfriend of Chicago-based mural artist Joe Miller helps paint one of Miller’s signature dot-style murals on the side of Green Bush Organics located at 2211 S. Saginaw Street on July 22, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Chicago-based artist Joe Miller takes a step back to look at his signature dot-style mural on the side of Green Bush Organics located at 2211 S. Saginaw Street on July 22, 2021. This is Millers second mural in Flint via the Flint Public Art Project. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Children run across South Saginaw Street to ask to take a photo in front of a Lamborghini during the Back to the Bricks Rolling Cruise on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

ACDelco Flint Ignition Service, Ten Fu Chinese Gourmet, and the South End Market on South Saginaw Street on Nov. 10, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Taylor Spencer (left) and Brett Brindley laugh behind the counter at Julie’s Pawn & Jewelry Sales on Nov. 10, 2021. The store, which is located at 1638 Saginaw Street, has been around since 1954 when Brindley’s great uncle Julie Serges started the business. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Taylor Spencer shows a customer a shotgun at Julie’s Pawn & Jewelry Sales on Nov. 10, 2021. Spencer has worked at the store for about 4 years. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Cars pull out of the Sunoco on Saginaw Street in Flint to enter the Rolling Cruise, part of the annual Back to the Bricks event on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Rich Jones, Councilman Eric Mays, and Water Warrior Claudia Perkins were some of the Flint leaders who gathered outside of City Hall Friday morning to protest the proposed $641.25 million water lawsuit settlement on Dec. 11, 2020. They called it a slap in the face and added insult to injury, disrespect of human life, and an abomination. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Flint poet Frankie McIntosh sits at the podcast table inside Wav Village, a recording studio in downtown Flint during the soft opening on Oct. 16, 2021. The studio was founded by Flint native Anthony Arline and is outfitted for podcasts, music recording, and more. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Halo Burger employees take orders and serve food during the grand re-opening of the downtown Flint location on Aug. 16, 2021. One of the oldest hamburger chains in the US, Halo Burger originated in Flint, Mich. in 1923. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the downtown Halo Burger location closed for renovations. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Customers steadily fill up th newly re-opened Halo Burger in downtown Flint on Aug. 16, 2021. The location was closed for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and renovations. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Long time Halo Burger employee Kelvin Skelton drinks a pop before heading into his shift during the grand re-opening of Halo Burger in downtown Flint on Aug. 16, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Shair’Mae Harris, 17, of Flint leads the For The Love of Dance Studio group down Saginaw Street for the Champions Parade celebrating Juneteenth on June 19, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Dan Spaniola, owner of his late fathers business, Paul’s Pipe Shop, explains the various sanders, drills, and buffers that make up the pipe workshop in the basement of the downtown Flint, Mich, store on Oct. 20, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Dan Spaniola holds pieces of briar wood burls in the workshop at Paul’s Pipe Shop. The wood, which is in no short supply in the shops basement, makes up the stores signature item, The Cayuga Pipe. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Dan Spaniola attends pipe shows around the region, where he brings a variety of unique smoking pipes to show and sell. Spaniola keeps stacks of display boxes in the storage room in the basement of Paul’s Pipe Shop. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Charles Mott’s 1897 smoking pipe rests on a Mozart stand behind glass in a display case. The second story of Paul’s Pipe Shop is a pipe museum filled with historic smoking pipes and memorabilia. Paul Spaniola, the stores late founder was a big collector and even after his 2013 passing, people continue to donate items to the collection. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A vintage photo of Dan Spaniola with Charles Stewart Mott at the Annual Michigan Regional Pipe Smoking Contest lives in a photo album which is displayed in the museum above Paul’s Pipe Shop in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Dan Spaniola poses for a photo in the tobacco storage room in the basement of Paul’s Pipe Shop on Oct. 20,2021. Spaniola carries on his late fathers tradition of hand blending tobacco to sell. (KT Kanazawich |Flint Beat)
Paul Spaniola was a decorated pipe smoker. Paul’s Pipe Shop is lined with trophies won by the shops late owner. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
The world record pipe smoking trophy that Paul Spaniola, the late owner of Paul’s Pipe Shop, won for smoking a pipe for over 2 hours. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Dan Spaniola, 75, smokes a pipe inside his late father’s business Paul’s Pipe Shop on Oct. 20, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
In 1928, Paul’s Pipe Shop was founded over a $10 bet that owner Paul Spaniola, who was only 15-years-old at the time, couldn’t make a living making and selling pipes. Fast forward 93 years and 4 locations later, Paul’s Pipe Shop stands proudly at 647 Saginaw Street in Downtown Flint, Mich.(KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Dan Spaniola, 75, and his son Carl Spaniola pose for a photo in the back of their family business, Paul’s Pipe Shop. Both Dan and Carl grew up coming to the store as children, and now they run the shop. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Ma Mang Vietnamese restaurant owner Tony Vu watches the Back to the Bricks car show activities on Saginaw Street from a rooftop on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Katie Rittman of Flint bartends at The Loft on the evening of Nov. 11, 2021. The downtown bar located at 526 S. Saginaw Street is known for its danceable soundtrack, with DJs playing music. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

On-air personality and manager Edward Graham live on the Flint radio station 98.9 The Beat on the morning of June 3, 2021. The radio station launched May 14, 2021, and is home to radio, talk shows, local news, and urban contemporary music. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Romain Robinson, 53, displays a jacket for sale at J Londons in downtown Flint, Mich. on Oct. 25, 2021. Robinson has been employed at the store for 12 years. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Fur coats hang high on the wall at J Londons mens clothing store on Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Romain Robinson, 53, rings out a customer at J Londons mens clothing store on Saginaw Street in downtown Flint, Mich. on Oct. 25, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Owner of J Londons mens clothing store, Jay Kim, 66, takes inventory in the downtown Flint, Mich. store. on Oct. 25, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Hats sit in storage above J Londons in downtown Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
The suit fitting workspace above J Londons mens clothing store in downtown Flint, Mich. The store does custom suit fitting.

Lina Marco jumps over 7 skateboards in the flat lot in downtown Flint during a girls skate event put on by Jenna Bankston of Brush Alley Skateshop on April 11, 2021. Marco, who was one of the older skaters at the event, was helping teach younger, newer skaters new techniques. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Hundreds of players attend the Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament in the Flat Lot in downtown Flint on Sept. 18, 2021. The Gus Macker is a basketball tournament designed for people of all ages to come together for the sport. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

The ten-mile race runners start on Saginaw Street in downtown Flint during the Crim Festival of Races on Aug. 28, 2021. The annual Crim Festival of Races was established in 1977 by Bobby Crim to serve as a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

The Sparkle Pink Club for Girls is a club promoting empowerment and self-esteem-boosting, based in Flint, Mich. Their float was part of the Champions Parade, one of many celebrations of Juneteenth in the City of Flint on June 19, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

The now-abandoned former Freedom Life Center on North Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. on Nov. 10, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Dr. James A. Brown, MD, in an exam room at the Hamilton Health Network Flint Clinic on June 22, 2021. Though it is not his first language, Brown is the only Spanish-speaking physician in the Flint, Mich. area. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Members of the Berston Bicycle Club in Flint, Mich. prepare to go for a planned 10-mile bike ride with their instructor Angela Stamps on July 28, 2021. Stamps has been running the club since 2012. The 9-week program is free for youth aged 10-18 and Stamps teaches bicycle safety, navigating, making decisions, and healthy living. After completing the program and final exam, the kids who participate get to take home a bike, helmet, front and rear lights, bike bag, reflective vest, bike lock, and tire patches. The bike club is just one of many athletic programs happening at the Friends of Berston field house. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

A partially collapsed commercial structure on North Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. on Nov. 5, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Friends and loved ones of Quetez Quinn gather at a candlelight vigil and balloon release on Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. On July 29, 2021, everyone gathered to honor Quinn after he was killed on his motorcycle in a hit-and-run accident just days before. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Parrish Godard, owner of Slides Off the Bone BBQ holds up a chicken wing on Nov. 5, 2021. Godard runs the stand with his son, Parrish Goddard Jr. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A customer orders BBQ at The Slides Off the Bone BBQ stand located on North Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. The food stand is owned by Parrish Godard who has operated the stand in various locations around Flint for 7 years. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Romaine Daniels cooks up ribs at Slides off the Bone BBQ on Nov. 5, 2021. The BBQ stand is currently taking over a vacant lot on North Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Romaine Daniels chips up ribs at Slides off the Bone BBQ on Nov. 5, 2021. The BBQ stand is currently taking over a vacant lot on North Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Jad working at Slides off the Bone BBQ on Nov. 5, 2021. The BBQ stand has been in various locations over the past 7 years says owner Parrish Godard, and recently moved to a vacant lot on North Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Slim Jim cleans the windows of a customers Tahoe on Nov. 5, 2021, at Willis Car Wash located at 3701 North Saginaw Street. The car wash has been open for over 30 years. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Willis Car Wash employee Slim Jim carries a rag outside to hand dry a customers truck on Nov. 5, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
A customer waits for his truck to be finished being cleaned on Nov. 5, 2021 at Willis Car Wash in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
The Willis Car Wash located at 3701 North Saginaw St. on Nov. 5, 2021. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

‘Richie Rich’ also known as the watermelon guy, or the nut guy, stands at his daily perch at the corner of Saginaw Street and Stewart Avenue in Flint, Mich. alongside his friend Junior on Nov. 10, 2021. Almost every day of the year you can find Richie Rich at this corner with a small assortment of produce. His business started in the 1960s when he would drive a produce truck around the same neighborhood going door to door. In 1979 he started his stationary stand at Baker Street and Saginaw Street, and in 1989 he moved to his current location. Rich likes the spot because it’s the neighborhood where he grew up, and he’s watched his community and people like Junior grow up. The stand is decorated in hand-painted signs by Richie Rich, making it hard to miss. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

Gymnastics student Adam Merriwether does a backflip at the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village on North Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. on Mar. 11, 2021. SBEV is home to a free after school program featuring classes like gymnastics, tap dance, tutoring, music production, photography, art and more. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
JuJuan Thorn, also known as the Vibe Dealer, produces a song at Antidote Studio within the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village with Jason Crutchfield, who goes by the rap name Lato, on March 3, 2021. (KT Kanazwich | Flint Beat)
The March 11, 2021, sun sets through the windows of the gymnastics room at the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village on North Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
Jreamah Clemons poses for a photo during photography class on Sept. 30, 2021. Clemons takes photography class at the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village which offers an array of free classes after school and during the summer. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

The Rosebud Candle & Dollar Store on North Saginaw Street in Flint, Mich. on Nov. 2, 2020. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

A mural by Jules Muck, also known as Muckrock on North Saginaw Street for the Flint Public Art Project on Nov. 2, 2020. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)

On Nov. 12, 2021, Brianna McMillian braids Eboni O’s hair at Caught My Eye Beauty Supply on North Saginaw Street. Caught My Eye is the only Black owned beauty supply store in Flint, Mich. McMillian helped her father Ronald Johnson open the store / barber shop in August of 2020. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
The new Caught My Eye Beauty Supply store located at 6502 Saginaw Street. The store, the only Black owned beauty supply store in Flint, Mich. has human hair amongst a variety of beauty supplies. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)
The new Caught My Eye Beauty Supply store located at 6502 Saginaw Street. The store, the only Black owned beauty supply store in Flint, Mich. has human hair amongst a variety of beauty supplies. (KT Kanazawich | Flint Beat)