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History · Albert Lea Township

Albert Lea Township dates to 1855, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1860.

1855founded
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Albert Lea Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Albert Lea Township began

When was Albert Lea Township founded?

1855

Albert Lea Township dates its founding to 1855 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 262 in 18602020 census: 602171 years
Founding year: Wikidata.The full story ↓

What stands out about Albert Lea Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Albert Lea Township’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · The story

How Albert Lea Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Albert Lea Township.

Read it all →

The city is named after Albert Lea Lake, which was named after Albert Miller Lea, a topographer from Tennessee with the United States Dragoons, who surveyed southern Minnesota and northern Iowa in 1835, including the current site of Albert Lea. Captain Nathan Boone, a son of Daniel Boone, was the scout for Lea's Dragoon unit. Lea later served the Southern rebellion as an engineering officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Albert Lea Township, 1855 to 1954

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1855
    FoundingAlbert Lea Township is established
  3. 1898In the archive1898ProclamationMayorAlbertLeaMN
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907In the archiveAlbert Lea, Fire Dept
  6. 1912In the archive1912postcardEpiscopalChurchAlbertLeaMN
  7. 1948In the archiveMinnesota. Official road map showing the State highway system and main secondary roads
  8. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Albert Lea Township, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s6 items
1898ProclamationMayorAlbertLeaMN18981898ProclamationMayorAlbertLeaMNAlbert Lea, Fire Dept1907Albert Lea, Fire DeptCity & county hospital1907City & county hospitalAlbert Lea College for Women1908Albert Lea College for WomenAlbert Lea College1908Albert Lea CollegeAlbert Lee [sic], Minn1908Albert Lee [sic], Minn
1910s–1940s3 items
1912postcardEpiscopalChurchAlbertLeaMN19121912postcardEpiscopalChurchAlbertLeaMNPostcardAlbert Lea, MN City Hall - 19171917Albert Lea, MN City Hall - 1917Minnesota. Official road map showing the State highway system and main secondary roads1948Minnesota. Official road map showing the State highwa…Map
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
Albert Lea Lake2013Albert Lea LakeMinnesota State Highway 13 southern terminus2011Minnesota State Highway 13 southern terminusFishing on Fountain Lake2009Fishing on Fountain LakeWedgeHouse2008WedgeHousePaineHouse2008PaineHouseJugglingFlame2008JugglingFlameAlbertLeaPL2007AlbertLeaPL
On the map

Albert Lea Township on the map in 1954

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Albert Lea Township.

Albert Lea Township on the 1954 USGS map1954Albert Lea sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Albert Lea Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1898ProclamationMayorAlbertLeaMN
Retake this view1898ProclamationMayorAlbertLeaMN, 1898

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Albert Lea Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Albert Lea Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,000190019502000Peak: 19,418

Between 262 and 19,418 people in every census since 1860.

16 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Albert Lea Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Murtaugh
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Albert Lea Township
GlenvilleHillcrest Memorial Gardens

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Albert Lea Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1898ProclamationMayorAlbertLeaMN: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Albert Lea5 historic placesA−Freeman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHayward Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPickerel Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBancroft TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Albert Lea Township’s history

What year was Albert Lea Township founded?

In 1855, according to Wikidata. the census of 1860 counted 262 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.