PARKER-KESSLER BLOCK PROMINENT DOWNTOWN ALBION STRUCTUREHistorical Albion Michigan

Last week in this column we featured the Gale Manufacturing Company building on the northwest corner of Cass and Superior Streets. The building was subsequently used by the newly organized Albion Malleable Iron Company during the 1890s, and then demolished.

In its place a new mercantile office building was constructed in 1900, called the Parker-Kessler block. Warren Scott Kessler (1845-1933) was the founder of the Albion Malleable Iron Company. His step-son was Harry B. Parker (1889-1936), who served as the Malleable’s vice-president and general manager for many years. If the name Parker sounds familiar, it should. The Parker Inn was constructed in 1926 to replace the Hotel Albion, and served Albion’s hotel needs for many years. Mr. Parker also donated the land for the site of City Hall.

The Parker-Kessler block served various needs during its existence. It just a few years it will be 100 years old. It has been used as Albion’s post office, and a various times has contained mercantile shops, Masonic Lodge rooms, a bowling lane on the second floor, and offices. Today the building houses Albion Floor Covering and Discount Daves.

This week we present a photograph taken during the 1930s when there was still diagonal parking in downtown Albion. The stores look somewhat vacant, evidence of the Depression that was in progress. The main window proclaims “Better Housing Show, Albion.” On the far right we see a store with an awning. This is the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A & P), which also had a store where Sander’s Furniture is 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
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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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