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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, October 18, 2024, pg. 3 ‘Tis the season for apple cider and donuts. Albion has had several area orchards in operation during our history. The 1858 plat map of Sheridan Township marks a cider mill located on the east side of N. Eaton St. at the intersection of today's North St. Each fall many of our residents would take their families to these orchards to stock up on gallons of cider, and scrumptious apples fit for pie-making by grandma. It was a memorable fall experience, indeed. One such orchard was the Ne-Ru-Bar Orchard, located out on Irwin Avenue, south side, at 26600 B Drive South just past the city limits. The Orchard was located on the 270-acre McCormick family farm. George McCormick (1846-1909) and his wife Emma (Ostrom) (1848-1930) had purchased the farm in 1874. With its gently rolling hills, the area was a perfect location for orchards. Accordingly, the 1916 Calhoun County Atlas also shows a large 300+ acre "Orchard Place Farm" just to the south of the McCormick property owned by Henry Harton (1845-1939), (father of Albion High School principal William C. Harton), which was continued on by his son James (1872-1949) after Henry's death. George and Emma's daughter Bessie (1885-1964) McCormick married Charles Chandler "Chan" Taylor (1885-1964), a native of Shelby, MI. Chan was a 1909 graduate of Michigan Agricultural College, majoring in agriculture. Following graduation, he became a successful salesman to orchard owners of Black Leaf 40 products. In the 1920s he moved to the Louisville, MO company headquarters of the Tobacco By-Products and Chemical Corporation, makers of the Black Leaf 40 products, where he held various managerial until 1935. Bessie's mother Emma McCormick had retained the family farm following the death of her husband George in 1909, but later moved to live with the Taylors in Louisville in her elderly years. She died there in 1930 and was buried back here in Albion next to her husband. In 1935 Chan quit his job in Louisville, and the Taylor's came to Albion. Here they acquired the family homestead farm and re-named it Ne-Ru-Bar Orchards. The unusual name came from the merger of the first names of their children: Neil, Ruth, and Barbara Taylor, hence Ne-Ru-Bar. While operating the orchard here, Chan became a chairman of the Michigan State Apple Commission, and a president of the Michigan State Horticulture Society, as well as the Calhoun County Fruit Growers Association. He was also served as a president of the local Albion Rotary Club and was involved in other local endeavors. Lt. Colonel Robert B. McPherson and wife Carol Louise purchased the orchard from the Taylors in July, 1963. They operated it until it closed in 1976, at which time the McPhersons moved away from Albion. Manager of the Orchard beginning in April, 1967 was Michael Thomas, an MSU graduate who earned a master's degree in horticulture from Ohio State University. Michael subsequently left and became the Calhoun County Horticulture Agent. There were several additional managers following that. Since its closure in 1976, Nu-Ru-Bar Orchard has sat in decay. The old orchard trees are still there, covered with overgrowth and debris. From our Historical Notebook this week we present an October, 1967 photo of workers Greg Lockwood (driving), and Lloyd Wood (on trailer), driving a load of apples to the cider mill. The apples are packed in square crates for shipping. Later, 18-bushel pallets were utilized instead, which were easy to load for their major customer, Musselman's Applesauce Company (now Knouse Foods). Next is a photo taken the same day of the cider press. This shows Jay Alberts on the left guiding the load of apples which are contained inside the five layers of the so-called "cider blankets" seen in the center. On the right is manager Mike Thomas who is winching the load in place for squeezing. In the foreground is a wooden barrel which received the juice as it came out during the squeezing operation. How many of our readers remember Ne-Ru-Bar Orchard, or ever purchased apples or cider there?  October, 1967 photo of workers Greg Lockwood (driving), and Lloyd Wood
 Jay Alberts and Mike Thomas
All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
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