By Frank Passic
SHELDON BLOCK IS DOWNTOWN ALBION LANDMARK
Recently you may have observed the building that presently houses Parks Pharmacy in downtown Albion at 318 S. Superior St. is being repainted along with some necessary repairs. This is the Sheldon Block, one of Albion’s most prominent downtown buildings. It was erected in 1872 by the banker James W. Sheldon (1830-1894) who lived in an elegant apartment on the second floor with his wife Mary (Peabody) Sheldon (1832-1905).
This building once contained numerous architectural features including a decorative outside front railing between the 1st and 2nd floors, a mansard roof (still there), a beautiful bay window on the south side front corner, retractable awnings for each storefront, and of course the decorative railing on the roof which was only removed by necessity last year as part of a reroofing project. There was also once a 2nd floor screened back porch on the back of the structure which also contained the decorative top roof railings found on the rest of the building. The building façade is filled with ornate detailing throughout.
The long-standing corner business in this block of course has been Parks Drug Store, now known as Parks Pharmacy. Previously since the late 1890s, the Sheldon Block contained the drug store business of Bruce Kinmont (1857-1924) who sold it to Floyd Parks in 1922.
After the death of James Sheldon in 1894, some of the upper rooms were turned into a hotel. Joseph Allen operated his “Hotel Allen” in the building, which boasted in the 1894-95 city directory (Pg. 53): “Hotel Allen, one of the best equipped hotels in the city. Electric light, and rooms heated free of charge. All appointments first-class. Rates $1.50 per day.” The 1897 directory lists it as the “Central House Hotel,” operated by J. Dell Mapes.at 314 S. Superior St. The hotel was gone by the 1901 city directory.
Following the hotel operations, various ladies operated millinery shops upstairs in the room where the beautiful bay window once existed up through the 1950s, before it was replaced by a square-glass design that is still there today. Mrs. Edie McDonald is listed both in business here and living here in the 1913 directory at 318 ½ S. Superior St. Next door in the same building at 316 ½ was Mrs. Rose P. Furey and her millinery shop.
After this, the upper stories were turned into apartments which remained until the 1960s, but with a special twist: Drs. Harold and Miriam S. Daly had their office upstairs at 318 ½ S. Superior St. in the late 1950s into the 1960s before the physicians office building was built next to Sheldon Memorial Hospital.
The Sheldon Block appears in numerous historical Albion postcards, and is a landmark in itself. Wouldn’t it be great if funds could be raised to restore it to its grandeur and practical commercial/residential function, such as was done with the Peabody Block across the street on Erie? Perhaps, someday. In the meantime, we’re glad to see the new paint job and repairs made recently. From our Historical Notebook this week we present a 1911 postcard photograph of the Sheldon Block, with the Bruce Kinmont A.D.S. (Albion Drug Store) drug store on the corner, and the beautiful bay window on the 2nd floor. How many of our readers have visited Parks Pharmacy in
the Sheldon Block recently?
