Albion College - Albionian Yearbook (Albion, MI)

Page 14 text:

LOCATION Albion is a thriving city of 6,000 inhabitants, situated in the central portion of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The postal, telegraph and telephone facilities are equal to those of the largest cities in the state. Albion is on the main line of the Michigan Central Railroad, 95 miles west of Detroit. The Lansing division of the Lake Shore Michigan Southern crosses the Michigan Central at this place, providing direct connection with the main line of the Lake Shore on the south, and at the north with the Grand Rapids division of the Michigan Central, the Pere Marquette, the Grand Trunk and other lines. The Jackson Battle Creek Electric line passes through Albion, giving us hourly communication with points east and west.

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HISTORY In the year 1833, Rev. Henry Colclazer, Rev. Elijah H. Pilcher and Benjamin H. Packard, M. D., resolved to inau- gurate a movement for the establishment of an academy of higher learning in Michigan. Spring Arbor was chosen as a location, and in the spring of 1835 the Legislature granted a charter under the corporate name of Spring Arbor Seminary, locating the institution on the site of an old Indian village, in the town of Spring Arbor. In the spring of 1839 the charter was amended, lo- cating the school at Albion and reconstructing the Board of Trustees. In November of 1843, the first building was completed and opened for the reception of students. Rev. Charles F. Stock- well, A. M., a graduate of Middletown University, was ap- pointed principal. In 1849, charter was amended by the creation of a Female College, so that the corporate name became Wes- leyan Seminary and Female Collegiate Institute. The in- stitution was empowered to grant degrees to women only. In 1861, the original charter was still further amended, authorizing the institution to confer degrees on both men and women, the corporate name becoming Albion College. The management of the institution is vested in a Board of Trustees, consisting of sixteen persons, six elected by the Detroit Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, six by the Michigan Conference, and three by the Society of Alumni. The President of the College is associated as a member ex-officio. A special board or committee, as custodian of the Endow- ment Fund, was created by act of the Legislature in 1865.

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GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS The college campus contains eighteen acres. The old Central Building, through the generosity of George O. Rob- inson, LL. D., of Detroit, has been thoroughly renovated and enlarged so that it is in every respect an up-to-date building and now bears the name Robinson Hall. The entire interior of the old building has been reconstructed and an addition four stories in height has been built on the east side of the old building. This addition is 45 by 60 feet and is devoted to the Biological Department, containing Biological and Bo- tanical Laboratories, together with work rooms and store rooms. The north building, situated just north of the foregoing, is 80 feet long, 50 feet wide and three stories in height. It contains four lecture rooms, quarters for the Commercial School, the Art Studio and two Literary Societies. The Chapel Building stands directly south of the Central Building, and is three stories high, 80 feet long and 50 feet wide. The second and third stories are wholly devoted to chapel purposes. The first story is devoted to the work of the Conservatory of Music and the Secretary ' s office. The Astronomical Observatory was erected in 1883, is two stories high, with a round tower which rises to three stories and is surmounted by a dome. On the lower floor are the lecture rooms of the departments of Astronomy and Mathematics and the pier-room, through which pass the brick supports for the fixed instruments. On the second floor are the transit room, containing the Transit Circle, Clock and Chronograph, a computing room, a room for port- able instruments, and a room containing the Astronomical and Meteorological Library. In the round tower is placed the Equatorial. The gymnasium was completed in 1892. The first story is of field stone; above this the building consists of a heavy frame inclosed with brick. The building has a frontage of 54 feet, and is 92 feet in depth, surmounted with a gothic roof to provide sufficient height.