Return to the Frank Passic
Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
|
Morning Star, March 27, 2016, pg. 3 The Albion Public Schools boundaries include the territories of the former country/rural schools which once dotted the landscape surround our community. The controversial process of annexation of the rural school districts could not have come at a worse time for the Albion Public Schools in the 1960s. The large "baby boomer" generation population and local booming economic conditions had caused Albion’s schools to become filled to capacity. Thus the Albion district was slow to approve annexing rural districts which brought in more students. With one exception, it wasn’t until 1965 that Albion began annexing the rural districts. The following rural school districts were annexed to the Albion Public Schools: Anthony, Babcock, Bath Mills, Billinghurst, Gay, Holmes, Howell, Snyder, Tamarack, Warner, White, Wines, and Wright. One unfortunately case involved the Riceville School on Erie Rd. in Jackson County. That district had asked for annexation into Albion in 1962, but the Albion board turned them down. So the Riceville district was annexed to Concord instead. Thus today the Concord district goes all the way to the Calhoun-Jackson County line on Erie Road, just 1 mile from Harrington School, and also goes to the southern boundary of Amberton Village. The point here is that decisions made long ago are still affecting us today. For more detailed information, consult my 1991 book "A History of the Albion Public Schools," chapter 15 "Country Schools" beginning on page 137. In addition, Albion did not get all the territory it was supposed to get. After various country school annexations were approved or proposed, but before Albion actually took over, individual land owners requested of their "lame duck" country school boards that their land be transferred to either Homer or Concord. This of course was heartily approved and accepted by the other districts. Thus the Albion school boundaries today are jagged, uneven, and irregular on the south and east edges. From our Historical Notebook this week we present a map of the country schools that were annexed into the Albion Public Schools, and their historical boundaries during their heyday. This map is found on page 138 of my book. Compare this map with a map of today’s boundaries and you’ll see how much area Albion didn’t get in the southern and eastern portions in what was the former Howell and Bath Mills areas. How many of our readers went to one of the country schools that were annexed into the Albion Public Schools?  Country School boundaries All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
| |
