NATIONAL SPRING AND WIRE COMPANY

With the welcome news of the scheduled demolition this spring of the remaining portion of the old Union Steel Products complex, we note that these buildings were originally erected as the home of one of Albion's big industries during the first two decades of the 20th century: The National Spring and Wire Company. The firm manufactured automobile (and carriage) upholstering cushion springs for seats. It employed around 125 persons during its heyday.

The Company was organized in 1902, and in 1904 moved to 505 N. Berrien St. in the building formerly occupied by the Albion Buggy Company. In 1915 it built a large new manufacturing building on the other side of the block at 504 N. Monroe St. The date, "1915" can still be seen today in the center section of the building along N. Monroe St. The Company was serviced by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, whose spur along the southern part of the building was used to load railroad cars to ship parts to customers across the United States and Canada. The tracks still go past the building today to service the Knopf Insulation plant.

The 1917-18 Albion City Directory lists the following officers of the Company: Alfred J. Abbott, president; Solomon M. Raftery, vice-president; Otis A. Leonard, secretary; Elmer Jacobs, treasurer; Fred B. King, superintendent. The National Spring & Wire Company closed in 1922, and the building was subsequently purchased by Union Steel Products which used the building for its own manufacturing needs until its closure.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present just a portion of a 36-inch long panoramic photograph taken in 1916 showing all of the employees of the National Spring and Wire Company assembled outside the plant at 504 N. Monroe St., with the "1915" date on the building. How many of our readers have worked in that building when it was Union Steel Products?

	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