ALBION’S AUTOMOBILE DEALERS IN 1913

In the early 20th century, the "horseless carriage"replaced horses as the main instrument of mobile transportation in Albion. The "switch-over"especially occurred in the 1910s. Liveries that were formerly used to provide transportation of some type by horse were replaced with "Auto Liveries."As people obtained automobiles, they discontinued using the Interurban rail system to travel between cities. The interurban was subsequently discontinued in 1929.

The 1913 Albion City Directory lists several auto dealerships in town: A. R. Austin (Overland) at 210 S. Superior St.; D. M. McAuliffe (Studebaker) at 105 N. Superior St; McCarty & Bealer at 130 N. Superior St; A.G. Noble & H. R. Richards at 112-116 E. Michigan Avenue; and Charles H. Osborn at 405 S. Superior St. The "Auto Liveries"were operated by C. B. Granger at 110 E. Michigan Avenue, and Herbert C. Nowlin at 613 Perry St.

In these early years there were numerous dealership changes, purchases and location changes as the use of the automobile in Albion became established. Some of these dealerships also dealt in bicycles and supplies.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a 1913 "generic"postcard promoting our town featuring an automobile theme. It shows a couple in a colorful car with the woman driving. The text states "I am putting on some speed in Albion, the Good Old Town."

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com