|
A PARTING POEM ABOUT THE STONE MILL
Morning Star, December 24, 2017, pg. 9
A very Merry Christmas to my readers of this column. Thank you for your support and for getting to me old photographs, directories, yearbooks, and other Albion history items which I use in my research. With all of the building construction going on in downtown Albion this past year and continuing, I'd like to present an article I prepared a year ago but couldn't "fit it in"at the time.
Occasionally in my research I'll come across something out-of-the-ordinary. This week I'd like to present a poem I came across. In 1916, the 1845-built 3 ˝ story landmark Jesse Crowell Stone (flour) Mill in downtown Albion was extensively reconstructed into the Commercial & Savings Bank, 207 S. Superior St. The latter opened on January 1, 1917. [Note: Today it is the Huntington Bank]. Local newspaper Albion Leader editor William B. Gildart (1848-1918) composed and published a poem as part of an "obituary"for the Mill. We are republishing it here. From our Historical Notebook this week we present an 1857 drawing of the Mill, shown on the left. The original Mill office (present-day site of Fedco) is on the right. Enjoy, and again, Merry Christmas!
THE OLD STONE MILL.
We have no strange or mystic shrines,
No temples here moss-grown with age.
The new is old ere yet it lines
Are fairly traced on history's page
Man rears a solid work of rock
He quarries from the native soil
A structure that should bear the shock
Of grinding Time's relentless toil.
Within those gray, protecting walls
Man's cunning craft is deftly plied.
His labor done; the master calls
Down the long race the pent-up tide.
That tide was but the living blood
Poured into artery and vein
Of iron, and stone and steel and wood,
Conceptions of master brain.
The purring wheels begin to turn;
The throb and hum of life begin;
A Fancy's child has thus been born
To live and thrive within that din.
That din was heard through three score years;
Attractive was its whirring sound.
T'was music to the pioneers
Who settled in the country ‘round.
A city from a hamlet grew
The Stone Mill made the daily flour
Of toiling hundreds—they who do
And dare to be a city's power.
But Time no temp'ring mercy knows;
His withering hand is over all;
All are but midgets ‘neath his blows,
And men and things before him fall.
‘Twas so with him whose fertile brain
Conceived the thought, the structure reared;
‘Twill be the same—O, sad refrain!
Now that his work has disappeared.
The Stone Mill, first a Fancy thought,
The mind of man containing.
Will be once more an airy naught
Fond Memory retaining.
Albion's Stone Mill in 1858
Next: ALBION 100 YEARS AGO JANUARY 1918
Back to the Top of this Page
All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
|
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
|
|
General Guide to Albion
AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference.
General Guide — Community |
General Guide — Outdoors
|
|
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.
|
|
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 |
Advertise on AlbionMich.com
|
|
