RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Minnesota >> Freeborn County >> Albert LeaIndex...

Welcome to Albert Lea ...

The city of Albert Lea is located in Freeborn County<1> and is the County Seat for Freeborn County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Albert Lea, you might consider that their post office opened in 1856.

When the people of Albert Lea refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Albert Lean<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Albert Lea has a population of 17,748 people<3> (see below for details).

Albert Lea is 1,240 feet [378 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Albert Lea lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Albert Lea: 507 & 924<5>

The ZIP code for Albert Lea: 56007<6>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Albert Lea had an population of 17,748 people. This is a decrease of 1.49% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 3.31% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Albert Lea had a population of 18,016 people (which is 57.74% of the total population of Freeborn County). This makes Albert Lea the county's most populous community.

The population of Albert Lea represents 0.34% of the total population of Minnesota (which has 5,303,925 people), making it the state's 61st most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 18,016 people, the population of Albert Lea decreased 1.85% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 18,356 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Albert Lea.

Websites for Albert Lea ...

Official Website:   www.city.albertlea.org/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.albertlea.org/

Communities near Albert Lea ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Albert Lea.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Albert Lea. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Albert Lea.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Albert Lea. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Albert Lea.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Albert Lea. Our list includes 19 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Albert Lea.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Albert Lea ...

Looking for more information about Albert Lea? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Albert Lea, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Albert Lea.

Adding Albert Lea to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Albert Lea in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Albert Lea was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Albert Lea post office opened in 1856.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Albert Lea.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Minnesota's counties, including Freeborn, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Albert Lea refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Albert Lea may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Albert Lea.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Albert Lea - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 507 code has been Overlayed with the 924 area code. New phone numbers in the Albert Lea area will be assigned with one of these codes: 507 or 924. As a result, placing a call in the Albert Lea area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Albert Lea). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Albert Lea or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/