THE FLOOD OF 1908 - Historical Albion Michigan

Each year at this time we write a rare "repeat" and relate to our readers about the big Flood of 1908 which occurred 92 years ago this week (March 7-8 1908). This was the "most photographed" disaster in Albion history, and numerous postcards 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 3:30 p.m. 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 to 18 inches over the deck of the Cass Street bridge. Ironically, all bridges in Albion except the Cass Street bridge were either destroyed or severely damaged.

From our Historical Notebook this week we leave you with one of the "classic" photographs of the Flood of 1908. It was taken from the top of the roof of photographer Donald Bennet’s (how convenient for him) establishment looking towards the Cass Street bridge and the White Mill in the background.

	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.
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