Historical Albion Michigan
By Frank Passic

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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.

SIDEWALK DAYS

Morning Star, August 22, 2010, pg. 6

After last week‘s article was published, we were informed that the two oil pipelines which were located in the muck in the upper millpond were removed in 1985 by Marathon Oil. The pipelines had prevented the dredging of the upper millpond back in 1978-79. It‘s too bad we couldn‘t have another dredging project; the silt is really bad there.

As we round out the summer, we are reminded that a big summer event in the 1950s and 1960s was "sidewalk days in downtown Albion. Merchants would place their unsold wares in bins and on hangers on the sidewalk at discounted prices. It was a shopping bonanza for Albion residents, as hundreds of persons would converge on downtown Albion looking for bargains.

From our this week we present a scene from sidewalk days, July 15-17, 1965. Pictured is the east side of S. Superior St., starting from the McLellan‘s dime store. Notice the crowd of people in downtown Albion in the vicinity of J.C. Penney store. Do you recognize anyone?


Sidewalk Days, July 15-17, 1965

Next: THE INFAMOUS BACK TO SCHOOL BALL DROP


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All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic  |  Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026

Frank Passic Albion Historian 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.

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