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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, December 14, 2014, pg. 5 Be sure to shop locally first before you head out of town to do your Christmas shopping. My latest Albion history pictorial books are available from yours truly at my house and make great Christmas gifts. Give me a call at (517) 629-5402 if you need to purchase copies of: Growing Up in Albion, Albion in Review, or Albion (Postcards). You can also e-mail me at Albionfp@hotmail.com. I can put all three books into one USPS envelope and ship across the country if you wish. One challenge for Albion shoppers in downtown Albion for many years was obtaining a parking space on Superior St. This was especially true during Albion’s "boom" years of the 1950s when we had parking meters to regulate the parking. With the various state trunkline regulations and other requirements in place, the number of legal parking spaces has been gradually reduced through the years. Even some of the white parking border bricks which were laid in 1993 as part of the rebricking project were later deemed incorrect. There are some anomalies on the street today. The opening of parking lots behind the stores has fortunately helped provide a parking alternative, and some people have gotten used to using the "back door" of various establishments. Albion once had many more parking spaces downtown, however. It was because we once had angle parking. Angle parking is still legal in various communities across the state on specific local streets. Take downtown Homer, for example, where they still have angle parking in the downtown business section. Here in Albion, Superior St. had angle parking until the massive 1940 reconstruction/rebricking project ended that with parallel parking white brick lines. Drivers ignored those lines during World War II and continued to angle park as they had been used to, but the City cracked down following the War. Angle parking was also allowed in the 100 blocks of E. and W. Erie St. into the 1960s. W. Erie St. was the first to go, and E. Erie St. was the last to be eliminated. From our Historical Notebook this week we present a postcard photograph circa 1936 of the 300 block of S. Superior St. showing the Sheldon Block. Of course Parks Drug Store is on the corner, followed on the right (north) by the Morse 5 & 10 store, followed by the Piggly Wiggly grocery (yes, this photo proves that we once had one of those here in Albion!). Notice the angle parking that existed at the time. That gave drivers one lane of driving in each direction. Now we have two driving lanes in each direction, thanks to the 1940 reconstruction/rebricking project. How many of our readers remember angle parking on either Superior or Erie Sts.?  The Sheldon Block, circa 1936 (300 block of S. Superior St.) Next: 1954 ALBION CHRONOLOGY All text copyright, 2024 © all rights reserved Frank Passic
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