THE DEATH SCOREBOARDS

With the changing of the calendar year, the counters are set back to zero, and a new year of statistics begins. When Interstate I-94 opened north of Albion on July 1, 1960, a new era in Albion history began. No longer would hundreds of vehicles pass through our town on U.S-12 as had been the case previously. A prominent and colorful "Albion Next Exit" billboard was posted along the highway coming towards town from Jackson, in an attempted to woo visitors back into our community.

There was another billboard however that was also erected along I-94, sponsored by the Calhoun County Safety Commission. Having the appearance of an athletic scoreboard, it was intended as a safety reminder for those entering Calhoun County. In those days wearing a seat belt (if they were included in an automobile) wasn t required, and understandably there were more traffic deaths on Michigan roads as a result.

In order to induce drivers to drive safely, the billboard stated, "ENTERING CALHOUN COUNTY. XX KILLED, CALHOUN COUNTY SAFETY COMMISSION." The number in the center was constantly being updated as the latest traffic death occurred. Battle Creek historian Kurt Thornton wrote me, "One summer, my father made some extra money painting the signs."

Why, even here in Albion, the Albion Chamber of Commerce got into the act, and erected its own "ALBION DEATHS" scoreboard right next to the Chamber office, which then was located in what today is the Molder Statue Park. That sign contained the added words, "ALBION DEATHS THIS YEAR," and "DRIVE SAFELY."

I wonder what drivers must have thought about our County and City when they saw those ominous numbers while driving into our domains. Perhaps it might have made them want to speed up in order to get out of here before it was too late.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present both signs, undated. The Albion one shows city employee Ralph Pollman positioning the sign into place. The Calhoun County one, courtesy of Kurt Thornton, shows Calhoun County s "score" all the way up to 18 at that point. How many of our readers remember these?

	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