In the spirit of Love in the month of February, we worked with Albion’s award-winning author Peggy Grigowski and our community to write a love letter to our home, Albion.
Dearest Albion,
Time has taken us through many changes some good, some bad yet overall, we made it through. We have seen and will endure more, but we will avail no matter come what may because we are, Forever-Albion-Strong!
Who would have known we would come so far and go through so much together but here we are today in 2022 still standing strong and moving forward.
Our first steps to becoming Albion began in 1821 when fifty-five Potawatomi Chiefs gathered to sign the Treaty of Chicago. This was the first day that our true history and love for each other began.
A few short years after the Treaty was signed in 1833 Mr. Tenney Peabody brought his family from New York and built a simple log shack thatched with marsh grass at the Kalamazoo River, today known as Rieger Park.
Who would have known that a handful of people would move here and start developing and growing you, Albion making you, their home. The mighty Kalamazoo River helped in our beginning and soon enough you were known as a mill town. Little did we know then that 75 years in our future that same river would wreak havoc on us leaving us shattered but not defeated.
We stood tall with pride as we laid our first railroad tracks in 1852. And as the years would come so would the people making you, Albion their permanent residence. They watched as you grew and gained businesses, built parks, stores, factories, and more with every step of growth came that Albion pride that makes me smile still today.
Then that beautiful day came in 1855 that you, Albion incorporated as a village, and then in 1885, you grew to be your very own city capturing the ambiance of the beauty surrounding you.
After 1885 people started coming from all over the world to our Albion. They came from Poland, Germany, Italy, Russia, as well as from states across our country. They came seeking jobs in our factories. Most stayed creating a diverse strong community and the rest is history.
Albion, I’m so in love with you because, “we have diversity and, a caring community. We are a family and we have chosen to plant our roots here and call Albion our home!”
As usual with everything when you have good fortune you also experience the unfortunate. Albion, you have certainly seen your shares such as the Great flood of 1908 that brought snowfall of 60 inches followed by heavy rains and warmer weather making the Kalamazoo River rage through our city destroying many businesses and bridges. Yet, with all this destruction came entrepreneurs who saw this ordeal as an opportunity. Local photographers and newspapers scampered around town photographing and making money from the devastation, while local businesses pulled up their sleeves, rebuilt or relocated, and moved on.
The funny thing about this river is we, Albion learned to respect the water and in 1967 began our Festival of the Forks annual celebration that has been going strong now for 55 years. That’s what we do. That’s who we are!
A community that has experienced so much together, tornados, floods, losses of our major factories, hospital, school and so many businesses that have come and gone, and yet, here we stand.
Here we stand together rebuilding our city, one brick at a time. Reconstructing new businesses, hotels, restaurants, and storefronts. Reclaiming our downtown making it beautiful and wholesome. Holding each other up and moving forward with ideas, helping hands, and a belief that, we can do this, and we will!
Albion, for these reasons and so many more, I love you because, “despite the difficulties, we are moving forward, stronger than ever and more resilient bringing greatness for us all!”
Albion, you big beautiful forever strong city, you got talented people. Our abilities grow with every generation and passing year. Mother’s Day, “The Old Rugged Cross,” “The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi” Then we have, tee-ball and so much more through the years, Albion you raised geniuses!
We have an amazing Bohm Theater, a Coco-Cola sign, a statue of the Molder, a Carnegie Library, we have a Sister City relationship with Noisy-le-Roi, France, near Paris. Not to mention the Gardner House Museum is one of a kind, we have real bricks that pave the main street in our historical downtown, and we were voted “All American City” in 1974!
And, once again, Albion, I love you because, “of our people, our special bond, our love for one another, that is what makes us, forever-Albion-Strong!”
Through thick and thin we have stood with pride, and we will be resilient through any battle. We have trust and faith in each other because we believe in our community. We love you Albion because we are, Forever-Albion-Strong!