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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, April 11, 2025, pg. 8 Across our rural areas in Calhoun and Jackson counties, you occasionally will see a farm with a sign posted out front that states, "Michigan Centennial Farm. Owned by the Same Family Over One Hundred Years. The Historical Society of Michigan. Sponsored by Consumers Energy." A local Sheridan Township farm north of Albion has just received not only this designation, but also an additional designation: A sesquicentennial farm, meaning that the farmland has been in the same family for over 150 years! Furthermore, this farm has actually been owned by the same family for a whopping 187 years! It was on October 9, 1838 that Burr Hall (1795-1868) of Fairfield County, Connecticut purchased 130 acres of land in Section 10 of Sheridan Township from his brother-in-law Rufus Pope. Pope had originally purchased that land from the U.S. government in January, 1836 and at the time was living in Jackson, Michigan. The land was located on the northeast side of an unnamed lake, along what is today 27 1/2 Mile Road. Burr moved his family here in 1838 and the lake soon became known as Hall's Lake. Burr purchased additional land in Sections 9 and 10 surrounding the lake, and thus he established his farmstead. Hall's Lake is a very shallow lake with lily pads and is surrounded by private property today, with no public access. The family first lived in a log cabin adjacent to the lake. Later, a brick home, the first such erected in Sheridan Township, was erected on the property in 1849 by Burr's sons Harvey and Henry. Their farm was a full-fledged operation where they grew wheat, corn, oats, and raised livestock. A look at the 1858 plat map of Calhoun County shows that Burr had parceled portions of his land surrounding the lake to his children. Burr's name also is found on the June 30th 1857 manifest of the so-called "Orphan Train" which stopped in Albion. There it is recorded as entry No. 16 that he took in a 10-year-old boy named John Small. Small subsequently was raised by the Hall family until he became an adult. From our Historical Notebook this week, we present a photograph of the new historical marker placed in front of the Hall family farm property at 16121 27 1/2 Mile Road, Albion. At the bottom are the special designations, "Over One Hundred Fifty Years," and "Hall Family Homestead Est. 1838." This designation appears in the latest Winter, 2025 issue on page 33, of the magazine Chronicle, published by the Historical Society of Michigan. We also present an undated colorized photograph of the original 1849 brick house (now demolished) of Burr and Marietta (Pope) Hall which was located a little further north. A special thanks to Nancy (Peters) Offerson, a Hall descendent, for providing the information for this weeks' article. Nancy's mother Marie (Jones) Peters (1910-2010) lived on the property for many years. Her mother Lydia (Spangler) Hall (1892-1987) was the second wife of Reuben Hall (1875-1955). Reuben was the son of Harvey Burr Hall (1820-1904), who was the son of Burr and Marietta (Pope) (1794-1861) Hall. Thus is the genealogical connection going back 187 years. How many of our readers live on an official centennial farm? For our readers who are now wondering about whom Hall Street in Albion was named after, Charles B. Hall (1818-1903) was a son of Burr and Marietta (Pope) Hall, and a brother of Harvey Burr Hall. Charles was a brick mason who helped erect the first brick buildings in Albion in the 1840s along with his brothers Harvey, Henry, and brother-in-law Minot Peck. Charles is listed as a farmer and mason in the 1885 Albion City Directory. The octagon brick home he built was on the east side of Maple St. at today's "Maple Ridge" in Albion between Division St. on the south, and North Street on the north. When his 20-acre property was divided and platted, his east property line became a new street and was named Hall Street, after Charles. Now you know. Our "hats off" this week to all our readers of this column who live on Hall Street in Albion.  Hall Family Homestead Marker from the Winter, 2025 issue of the Chronicle, published by the Historical Society of Michigan
 One of the first brick buildings in Albion in the 1840s
All text copyright, 2025 © all rights reserved Frank Passic
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