What is the history of Albion, Michigan?
The first white settler, Tenney Peabody, arrived in 1833. As local legend goes, Peabody’s wife decided to name the city after Albion, Oswego County, New York where another prominent pioneer, Jesse Crowell, came from. The city was almost named Peabodyville, but Albion was the preferred choice. Crowell arrived in 1835 and established the Albion Company to lay out the plan for the village and to sell property to other pioneers as they arrived. He became the first postmaster in 1838. Albion incorporated as a village in 1855 and as a city in 1885. In 1835, Methodist Episcopal ChurchMethodist Episcopal settlers established Albion College, which was known by a few other names before 1861 when the college was fully authorized to confer four-year degrees on both men and women. The first classes were held in Albion in 1843. The forks of the Kalamazoo River provided power for Watermillmills and Albion quickly became a mill town as well as an agricultural market. A railroad line arrived in 1852, f
