The Albion Pioneer 1869

Did you catch the small difference? This article in The Albion Journal reports on a donation of a copy of Volume 1 Number 1 of a predecessor to The Albion Journal. There were actually several different newspapers over the years in Albion (and elsewhere in Edwards County). I’m doubtful of the claim that the Albion Pioneer was the first newspaper in Albion.

The donor is someone I have become (historically speaking) familiar with as I have scanned the news from the 1880’s and 1890’s. W. L. Orange wrote letters to his friends in Albion from his new home in Florida. Lots of letters. He saved a ton of time by just writing to his relatives and friends via The Albion Journal. Sort of an old-time social media thing. Since he lived in Palatka, on the St. John’s River, the content is of interest to me. Palatka is due east of Gainesville and a little over halfway to Crescent Beach... an amazing beach that is much less commercial than most on the Atlantic coast in Florida.

The current newspaper serving Edwards County is actually based in Grayville, rather than Albion. Albion was on the railroad. Guess what runs just south of Grayville. If you guessed “the interstate”, you win! Baby boomer cousins can tell you how the amazing vibrant downtown in Anderson was gradually replaced twice since we were born. First due to the Mounds Mall on “the Bypass”, and then by the shopping area our near... wait for it... “the interstate”! Anderson’s downtown was located originally near the White River, the main source of easy transportation in the era when it was founded. Both Albion and Grayville are near the Little Wabash River, which was used for commercial transportation before the railroad was constructed. By the way, Abraham Lincoln could afford to be a politician and was able to get support from the new Republican Party in Illinois, because he was a lawyer for the railroad companies.