Albion State Normal School

Albion never got its school back. The state closed it in 1951 over the town's objections, along with its twin at Lewiston, after some 6,000 teachers had trained here. Within three years Idaho was issuing nearly 40 percent more provisional teaching certificates, and the legislature reopened Lewiston in 1955; Albion stayed shut. After Magic Valley Christian College left in 1969 the campus stood empty until a family bought it at state auction in 2007. It runs now as a retreat center, and every October as a haunted house.

What the plaque says

Albion State Normal School Established in March, 1893, by the Second Idaho State Legislature. Residents of Albion erected and furnished a two-story stone building on five acres of donated land, and the very successful teacher-training school opened on September 11, 1894. They soon donated additional land and more buildings were erected. In 1947 the institution became known as Southern Idaho College of Education. It closed in 1951. Magic Valley Christian College occupied the campus between 1958 and 1969. The original building now houses a museum. 490 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• City of Rocks National Reserve — 24 mi
  Two granite spires the emigrants steered by. They look like twins and formed about 2.5 billion years apart.

More markers nearby

• Diamondfield Jack — 0.2 mi
• Idahome — 9.4 mi
• Hudspeth's Cutoff — 12 mi
• Starrh's Ferry — 16 mi