Old Downtown Postcard – by Frank Passic

I’ve got copies of my latest books “Growing Up in Albion” and “Albion in Review” ready to go if you want to purchase them as Christmas gifts. Give me a call at (517) 629-5402 for details. You may also contact me be e-mail at: Albionfp@hotmail.com. I also have available some remaining copies of my annual Riverside Cemetery tour booklets. They are filled with information you won’t read about anywhere else, and are sure to spark conversation at your family holiday gatherings. Give a gift of Albion this Christmas season.

As you may know, I appreciate old Albion photographs and like to share them with our readers here. Occasionally yours truly comes across an old postcard of Albion I haven’t seen before. This week from our Historical Notebook we present a photo card from circa 1907 by the acclaimed photographer Pesha who went all over the state producing picture postcards. This scene shows the 101 side (east) of S. Superior St. from Cass St. southwards to what is today the Bohm Theatre location. During this time the interurban tracks went through the center of the street, as seen in this photo. Downtown Albion once contained numerous grocery stores, and several are found in this block alone.

Starting on the far left on the corner, just south of Cass St. is the Wochholz & Gress grocery store at 101-103, a landmark business for many years. Upstairs were attorneys Weeks & Cooper. Next is the George Griffin Hardware store at 105-107 S. Superior St. Next at 109 is the Eugene C. Carrington Grocery, followed by the Randall Novelty Store at 111. Next is the Isaac Sibley & Clark Grocery Store at 113.

The building with the peaked roof and the scar of discolored bricks at 115 was once Albion’s Fire Station and Village Hall. At the time of this photo the structure had been remodeled removing the old tower on the top and the archway on the first floor. For those who remember, this was the location of Miller Jeweler’s in the 1960s. During the time of this photo however, the awning appears to show the last name of “Emmons” at the end. We do know that Andrew Emmons operated his music store on E. Erie St., so this must have been another Emmons, specialty unknown. It appears that there are bushel baskets of produce placed out front, making it appear to be some sort of grocery.