JOHN SHARP/CHAMBER BUIDLING WAS ONCE LIVERY STABLEHistorical Albion Michigan

Some sections of downtown Albion are hard to get photographs of. One such location is the building at 416-418 S. Superior St., presently the site of the Albion Chamber of Commerce, and John Sharp Real Estate, respectively. During the 1930s through the 1960s it was the location of the Albion Theatre, and later the Spiegel Catalog Sales.

The building was erected in the 1890s by Ira Lambson who operated his livery there. It subsequently became the Thompson and Courtright livery, owned by Edgar L. Thompson and Jay L. Courtright. There was a center arch in which wagons would be driven up a ramp into the building. The firm also sold feed and related merchandise.

This week we present a rare 1911 photograph from a postcard owned by Wayne Crandall showing the Thompson and Courtright livery on the corner. Unfortunately, the large Dutch elm tree and an electric pole obscure the center arch. Notice the horse-drawn buggies parked on the left side of the street headed north. If you have old photographs of downtown Albion such as this one, let me know as it is always a treat to share scenes like this one with our readers.

	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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	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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