STONE MILL - Historical Albion Michigan

A few weeks ago we saw workers loading up old office fixtures, paneling, and other items in front of City Bank & Trust Company and hauling it away. Included was “air raid” shelter materials from the early 1960s, when a nuclear attack was imminent during the Cuban Missle Crisis. For those who don’t know it, City Bank once rented office space upstairs, and the building contains an elegant tile and marble foyer and staircase which is now inaccessible due to the automatic teller machine at the entrance.

The City Bank building was once the Stone Mill erected in 1845 by Jesse Crowell. A “tail race” of water ran behind the mill to supply water power to turn the grinding wheel. The mill ran constantly, and the firm built up a flour trade which was known nationwide. A new brick elevator was erected in 1881 just to the north. The firm eventually became known as the W. H. Nelson Grain, Flour & Feed firm. It discontinued business in the early 1910s.

The original Jesse Crowell Stone Mill was sold to the Commercial & Savings Bank, which remodeled the structure in 1916 into its new headquarters. The north elevator was sold to a cooperative, and was moved 132 feet east at 6 inches a day in August 1917, and today is Albion Elevator. Imagine moving that large, heavy brick building today!

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a classic photograph facing east of the Stone Mill on the right, and the Albion elevator building on the left while it was still on Superior Street. Today the latter is the site of the Bohm Theater. If you look closely, notice the style of the street lights. One of the projects on this year’s agenda is to install new streetscape lighting in downtown Albion in keeping with an historical theme. The only remaining lights of the style pictured here are in front of the Masonic Temple on W. Center St. today.

	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
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	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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