THE FLOOD OF 1908

Albion's "most photographed" disaster was the Great Flood of March, 1908. Numerous postcards and photos were produced capturing the vivid destruction of a portion of downtown Albion. In February 1908, over 60 inches of snow fell, followed by a heat wave. In early March came heavy rains, and the waters of the Kalamazoo River rose to record heights. An all-night rain on Friday, March 6 raised the rushing waters to 8 feet by Saturday noon. At 3:00 pm. that afternoon the Homer dam broke, sending an additional five-foot wave of water and ice chunks headed towards downtown Albion. By midnight the water had risen to18 inches over the deck of the Cass St. bridge. Six buildings on N. Superior St. collapsed, resulting in over $125,000 in damage. Merchants had to relocate or go out of business.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present an unusual view of the beginnings of the collapse of all of the buildings over the Kalamazoo River. On the center left are two side-by-side merchants wedged into one collapsed building section. They were 107 and 109 N. Superior St., home of E. C. Deyoe Grocery and Robert Cascarelli Fruit Stand, respectively.

Moving right, the roof is collapsed into the jewelry store of Robert F. Church at 111 N. Superior St. The Morse Clothing Store at 113 would soon be gone too, as well as the Temple Theatre at 113½ which collapsed after this photograph was taken. In the center of N. Superior St. is an ominous "sinkhole" forming, which would soon send Albion's original brick street in this location into the churning waters below. How many of our readers have old postcards depicting the Flood of 1908?

	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
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