THE ORANGE EAGLE

The recent announcement by the Marshall Public Schools that it plans to replace the Harrington Elementary School in Albion with a new building at another location reminded us of the original bond financing of Harrington back in 1956, and the artistically beautiful school building bonds that were issued to finance the project.

In late December 1955, the Albion School Board voted to name the proposed elementary school after Donald Harrington (1874-1961), who served as Superintendent from 1919 to 1939. On June 19, 1956, the contract to build the school was awarded to the Miller-Davis Company of Kalamazoo. Work began shortly thereafter, and Harrington Elementary School opened for classes on September 5, 1957.

The board authorized the issuance of building bonds to pay for the project, which totaled $680,000. Bonds were issued in $1,000 denominations at the start of 1956. Our local City Bank and Trust Company purchased $600,000 worth of bonds, payable at 2 ½% interest on April 1 and October 1. Bonds had various redemption dates on them, and dated interest coupons came with these bonds with dates all the way up to 1974.

Our focus this week is the beautiful orange-colored Harrington School building bond, which features an orange eagle. Have you ever seen an orange eagle before? These bonds were signed by Albion School Board president Carmi Reginald Smith (1895-1980), and the Board secretary, Karin Swanson (1900-1970).

These bonds were professionally printed by the Northern Banknote Company of Chicago, Illinois, and measure approximately 15 inches high, by 9 ½ inches wide. They are individually serial numbered. The border and illustrations on the bond are printed with orange ink, while the legal text and the denomination numerals are printed with black ink.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present the top portion of this school bond featuring the orange eagle. How many of our readers have ever invested in school building bonds?

	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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