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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, September 13, 2020, pg. 2 Because there is no Festival of the Forks this year, you are instead invited to my book-signing event at the Albion Farmer’s Market in the Market Place at Stoffer Plaza north of E. Erie St. in Albion on Wednesday, September 16 from 4 to 7 pm. No, I haven’t written any new books, but I will have copies of several of my previously-written Albion history books which I will be more than happy to autograph for you at my Albion History booth. In addition, I will have other Albion items such as Albion city directories and Albion High School yearbooks available. As a bonus, local author Michelle Mueller will be there with me with copies of her book about local legend Harry Bonner. Come on down this Wednesday; I’ll look forward to meeting you. Spread the word, and I’ll see you there! Just south of Albion off M-99 by the Elks Lodge begins Condit Road. The so-called "Condit" settlement was located at the intersection of Condit Road and H Drive South in Albion Township. When the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad was built in 1872, a "flagstop" station was erected at Condit. This meant that the train would stop to pick up passengers if the flag was put out; otherwise it would keep on going. The train would be headed towards either Homer on the south or to Albion on the north. Condit first shows up on the 1873 plat map of Calhoun County, showing the Condit station on the east side of Condit Road, north of H. Drive South, wedged between the railroad tracks which paralleled the road, and the Kalamazoo River to the east. It is still labeled as Condit Station on the 1916 plat map. The 1926 plat map however just says "Condit," with no station mentioned. There were apparently two Condit railroad stations structures. The first one was a small simple shelter-type structure with a sign stating "CONDIT" above the end doorway, and a stove-pipe in the back. A new photo recently surfaced however, and shows a longer structure, with a sign "CONDIT" on the side of the building paralleling the tracks. The entrances were on the side parallel to the tracks. The left doorway was for passengers, and the right doorway contained a larger door for freight deliveries, such as bags of seed-grain for area farmers. This structure had a brick chimney, and lightning rods on each end of the roof. The building was held up on concrete foundations. From our Historical Notebook this week we present this newly-discovered photo of the larger Condit railroad station. The tracks were abandoned at the end of 1943 and removed the following year. How many of our readers have driven through Condit?  The Condit Railroad Station
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