LARGE BRICK CARRIAGE BARN SERVED MANY PURPOSES

Across the river from City Hall is a parking lot. For many years however, a large brick building once stood there at 110 N. Clinton St. It was a large carriage barn that was erected at the beginning of the 20th century. The structure originally served as a carriage and automobile painting facility, and a sign painting shop. The name of the business was the City Paint Shop. It was operated by Patrick H. Hanlon (1854-1934), a New York native who came to Albion in the 1880s. (Note: His son was Leo Hanlon after whom our American Legion post is named). Hanlon was Albion’s sign painter for many years, and was known for his detail work. The building was located on the site of the former Sheldon & Fanning tannery which existed here in the late 19th century.

Beginning in the 1920s, the building became the home of the Darrow Boat Company. This firm manufactured its popular portable steel boats in this facility in from the 1920s into the 1940s.

Following the departure of the Darrow Boat Company in the late 1940s, the building stood vacant for a time, and then was transformed into the Albion Bowling Lanes in the early 1950s. It was operated by Harold Collmenter. Later, Stephen Macaluso became the owner. He built the Collegiate Bowl at 16653 E. Michigan Ave which opened on September 10, 1962. The Albion Bowling Lanes was subsequently closed. On August 7, 1963, the structure suffered a major fire. The building was subsequently demolished, and a parking lot was then constructed. The site is still used as a parking lot today.

From our Historical Notebook, we present an unusual photograph taken around 1907. It was taken from within the Fire Station door on W. Cass St., which today is the parking lot next to Hungry Howey’s pizza. Notice the hanging flowers on each side. The view looks north across the river. On the left we see the City Paint Shop carriage barn. In the center behind the three men is a rectangular building. This was the boiler room building for the Parker-Kessler block on the corner with Superior St. How many of our readers remember the Albion Bowling Lanes building on N. Clinton St?

	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