“Southeru Gateuay to Minnesota'o 10.000 Lakes” - Facts About Albert Lea

Sep 21, 2026

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“Southeru Gateuay to Minnesota'o 10.000 Lakes” presents a promotional overview of Albert Lea, positioning the city as a forward-planning county seat in Freeborn County, Minnesota. It compiles key civic statistics, major educational and church institutions, local organizations, and a wide range of recreational facilities and venues. The document also outlines transportation links, business commerce and industry scale, professional employment, and highlights Naeve Hospital, press and radio outlets, hotels, and dining and auditorium capacity. A historical section traces the naming origins from early explorers and Lieut. Albert Miller Lea through the founding and county-seat contest.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time6 min

AccessFree to download

Facts About Albert Lea

City and Government

Educational Facilities

Churches and Organizations

Recreation

Transportation

Business, Commerce, and Industry

Naeve Hospital, Press and Radio, Hotels

Historical Background

CHAMB三F?OF CC414ERCE ToAlbert Lea # “Southeru Gateuay to Minnesota'o 10.000 Lakes” This folder comes to you with the compliments of CHURCH LITHOGRAPH INC.of Albert Lea,specialists in school yearbooks,cook books and other commercial printing.We hope you enjoy yourstay in Albert Lea. # FACTS ABOUT ALBERT LEAThe City Which Plans Its FutureWhere Industry and AgricultureProsper City and Government:County seatof Freeborn County;council-managertype of government.Population— 17,000;total deposits(3 banks),$12,032,086;total deposits(2 build-ing and loan associations),$5,527,-319.67;postal receipts 1948 $180,-864.64;residential electric meters4939;gas meters 3660;water_meters3100;telephones from Albert Lea ex-change 5254;altitude 1229 feet. Educational Facilities:Public seniorand junior high schools;four publicelementary grade schools;RomanCatholicelementary grade school;Naeve Hospital School of Nursing. Churches:17 churches represent 11denominations. Organizations:Chamber of Com-merce,Junior Chamber of Commerce,Elks and Eagles lodges,AmericanLegion,Veterans of Foreign Wars,Disabled American Veterans,Masons, L.0.0.F.,Knights of.Columbus,Ki-wanis,Rotary and Lions clubs,Rodand Gun club,Civic Music Associa-tion,Y's Men,Y.M.C.A.,Y.W.C.A.Business and Professional Women’sClub,Salvation Army,,MinnesotaFederation of Women's Clubs, A.A.U.W.,Boy Scouts,Girl Scouts,Municipal Band,A.F.of L..and C.I.O.and many other civic andsocial organizations. Recreation:Hayek Field,home ofMinnesota State Champion AlbertLea Packers;106 acre park systemwith supervised recreation,privateand public golf courses, tenniscourts,archery,soft ball diamond,roller skating rink,ice skating andhockey rinks,swimming and canoe-ing on Fountain Lake,high schoolsports,2 indoor and 1 outdoor thea-tres,district Golden Glove Boxingtournament,high school plays,Gate-way Players(Little Theatre_Group),City Basketball League,FreebornCounty Fair etc. Transportation:Railroads:Milwau-kee,Rock Island,Minneapolis and St.Louis,Illinois Central;Bus Lines:Jefferson,Southwestern Stages,Min-nesota Transit;ample truck trans-portation;federal highways 16,65and 69 and state highway 13;AlbertLea is the only"focal point"city insouthern Minnesota on the NationalSuperhighway Network.It is thesmallest focal city in the UnitedStates on the Network west of a lineextending south from anadathrough Chicago,St.Louis and NewOrleans.A modern airport providesprivate and sightseeing flying andinstruction.Six star mail routes pro-vide excellent mail distribution andcollection. Business Commerce:250 retail out-lets with $21,775,000 in retail salesin 1948;35 wholesale outlets with $9,000,000 in sales. Industry:37 plants employ 3300persons and produce 53^separatekinds of goods. The Professions and Other Offices:scores of offices occupied by highlyeducated,trained and skilled mem-bers of the professions and othertypes of services.Total employmentin all ines of endeavor December 31,1948-7139. Naeve Hospital:provides 150 beds,operating rooms,etc.and the finest PHOTO BY ROBERT C.CHURCH A Birda Eye Vieu o%Albert Lea equipment and service to be foundanywhere. Press and Radio:Evening Tribune,9400 circulation;radio station KATE,Community Magazine. Hotels:provide 307 rooms to accom-modate a minimum of 614 persons. Dining Room Facilities SnaniehDining Room in Hotel Albert willseat 235;other facilities in restaur-ants,etc.for larger and smallegroups. Auditoriums:high school seats 2200armory seats 1500. Although the city of Albert Leabears the name of one of the firstwhite men to visit this area just alittle more than 100 years ago,itwas really a French geographerwho was largely responsible for thename of the present Freeborn coun-ty seat. The city's namesake,Lieut.AlbertMiller Lea,first came to this terri-tory in_July,1835,with the UnitedStates Dragoons in which he servedas topographer under the commandof Lieut.Col.Kearney.The pur-pose of the expedition was to ex-plore this t

FAQs

What is Albert Lea described as in the document’s main introduction?

It is presented as “The City Which Plans Its Future,” combining industry and agriculture while positioning Albert Lea as an important focal point city in southern Minnesota.

What civic and demographic details does the document provide?

It lists Albert Lea as the county seat of Freeborn County, includes the council-manager type of government, and provides population and financial figures such as total deposits and postal receipts.

How did the document explain the origin of the city and lake name “Albert Lea”?

It attributes the naming to Lieut. Albert Miller Lea and explains that the lake was initially called Fox lake, later receiving Lea’s name through map preparation work associated with Jean N. Nicollet.

Sep 21, 2026

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