At Holland Park the first stop is History Hill. This often called a “hallowed place” due to West Ward school that once stood nearby. The panels tell the story about how the school came to be, why it was segregated at one time, and the efforts to change what was the established way of educating Albion’s youth.
Labor Day Albion – Walk the Trail was created by Albion Downtown Development Authority around the year 2008. The event moved to Albion Health Care Alliance a few years later. The walk began to take group photos in 2016 when the General Guide published the event on 15,000 calendars, but there needed to be a new direction. The new theme was that people did not have to walk the entire trail, and could set their own pace. Some photos are below of the different years that the walk took place after that.
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The Labor Day Albion Walk the Trail event has been growing since 2016. The walk the trail event started about 5 years earlier.
See how the crowd has grown from 2016 to 2019!
Read through the posts below to learn more about the history of the event, and the world famous public parks of Albion that we tour, including History Hill in Holland Park.
Labor Day Albion - Walk the River Trail - has been a popular event for a decade. Albion is becoming known as a "hub of trails." Labor Day is a good day to take a free, self-guided walk along Albion’s scenic river trail. If you do come, please bring your own face mask and water. Hikers are encouraged to stop by the beautiful displays at History Hill in Holland Park, near the corner of Cass Street and Albion Street, to read about the history of Albion’s West Ward School. The school closed in 1953, as students’ parents recognized the school as ...
It was a beautiful day in Albion on Labor Day, Monday, September 2, 2019. The walkers gathered at the Victory Park Bandshell to pose for a group photo with the new Trail Town banner. Albion was recently recognized as a Trail Town community by the North Country Trail Association for its various hiking and biking events. Hikers walked across three of Albion's 19 bridges and viewed the farmer's market area, the river, and different Albion landmarks including the Coca Cola mural and the blue water tower. Labor Day Albion Walk the Trail featured some new segments including two historical speakers, ...
Labor Day Albion 2019 - Walk the Trail included an educational segment in Holland Park. Dr. Wes Dick, Albion College professor of history, talked about the origin of Labor Day, and how the Great Migration came about after World War I stopped the flow of immigrants to the United States. The immigrants had been the source of labor for much of the northern factories, and so new workers were brought north from the southern states. He then introduced Bob Wall, another historian, and teacher. Bob talked about his experience attending West Ward School, that started as a school in ...
Labor Day Albion - Walk the Trail Albion Health Care Alliance and Albion Recreation Department invite the community to come to Albion on Labor Day at 10 a.m., for those who cannot make it for the bigger walk over the Mackinac Bridge. We meet in Victory Park, and walk over the footbridge of the South Branch of the Kalamazoo River between Victory Park and Rieger Park, and also the North Branch of the Kalamazoo River on Eaton Street bridge, near Washington Street Park. We walk over a half a dozen bridges, large and small. How Albion’s Labor Day Walk the ...
In 2018, Albion Health Care Alliance partnered with Albion Recreation Department for the Labor Day Albion - Walk the Trail event. Larry Williams, of the Albion Recreation Department requested that we include Holland Park in the walk to showcase all of the work that has been done recently for the Holland Park Transformation project. The walkers on the Labor Day Albion hike enjoyed learning at History Hill. In the photo below, Leslie Dick tells the story of Holland Park, West Ward School, and History Hill. It was a good midpoint on the hike, which occurred on a very warm day ...
The end of one season and the beginning of another is quickly approaching. This time of year thousands of people will be headed to our upper peninsula in anticipation of walking across the Mackinac Bridge. For those not participating in this annual walk, you are invited to share in Albion’s Labor Day Walk the Trail. The Albion Health Care Alliance invited the community out on Monday, September 4, 2017, Labor Day, to walk the trail. The event took place at 10:00am until 11:00am. Participants were asked to meet at the beginning of the trail, just off Hannah Street in Victory ...
