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Forum: Albert Lea Photos Topic: Aerial View of Albert Lea started by: Liberal Posted by Liberal on Feb. 08 2005,10:25 pm
1952 Aerial view of the town
Posted by jimhanson on Feb. 09 2005,1:07 pm
A couple of questions and comments:Hard to see-but isn't the '54 building on the Courthouse? There is a long structure that terminates close to the street there. There was the old jail in what used to be the east parking lot, but did it extend all the way to Broadway before the 54 building was built? It's hard to make out in the photo--what was at the termination of the north end of Broadway? In the area where the park is now--it looks like an inlet at the end of the road, riprap on the old lakeshore, and some structures at the end. Was this the old casino? The famous (infamous) concrete water tower. Didn't hold water, but the contractor successfully defended by saying there was nothing in the contract that said the water tower had to hold water. Hard to tell, but it looks like the cars are parallel parked on Broadway. You can see S. Broadway going away in the distance, but can't see S.E. Broadway going past the Elks intersection. When was that section built? Note the standing water on th south side of town. One of the things that stands out in old aerial photos is the lack of trees. Back then, (and in the prior decades), trees were used for fuel. Compare old aerial photos with current ones--we have far more trees today than we had back then. Posted by ICU812 on Feb. 09 2005,1:26 pm
Never ever heard a thing about that water tower. Didnt sayin the contract it had to hold water, now thats funny.Another thing I noticed in the picture was a lack of presence of Main St., also the inlet/bay of water on the left side of the picture. Was that filled in, or what? Or is it the channel? Cool Pic Lib Posted by ICU812 on Feb. 09 2005,1:29 pm
I bet it would be cool to look at the actual picture with about 5x magnification
Posted by MADDOG on Feb. 09 2005,3:40 pm
You're right, jim. It looks like there is a structure just this side of the old clock tower.
Posted by jimhanson on Feb. 09 2005,6:07 pm
Here's another aerial shot, 1953, looking from over Bridge Street towards the old dump, Bancroft Creek, and Wedge Nursery. Note the lack of trees. The scanner says it is 274 kb. How do I get it down to the 100 kb. limit? Anybody know how to rotate the image 90 degrees? Posted by GEOKARJO on Feb. 09 2005,11:04 pm
Jim send me the image to george@web-room.net
Posted by jimhanson on Feb. 10 2005,5:12 pm
Further to the mention I made of the concrete water tower that didn't hold water. I tried a Google search, and an advanced search on the Tribune site. I was sure that I had read it some time ago, and that Ed Shannon had done the article. I called Bev Jackson at the Historical Society, and she came up with the article--dated 9-27-91. Here are some excerpts:It was called the "million dollar lamp post". For more than 40 years, what looked like a misplaced turret from a European Castle dominated the Albert Lea Skyline. (snip) Someone in Albert Lea decided a distinctive water storage facility could be created with reinforced concrete. (snip) The odd-looking concrete water tower was constructed in 1920. (snip) Despite one of its nicknames, the entire structure cost $65,000 to build". The new tower soon became the focus of an interesting legal battle. The tank leaked when it was filled. City officials decided not to pay the contractor for a leaky tank. Yet, they had to eventually settle with the tower's builder because the contract just didn't even specify that the tank had to hold water." After several attempts and some unexpected expenditures of money, a brick liner finally sealed the troublesome leaks. For about 19 years the concrete tower was the major landmark on the north edge of the central business district. In 1939, a new elevated water storage tower constructed of more conventional steel material was erected next to the strange structure." The tower, no longer in use, was torn down in 1961. The curved retaining wall behind the library is all that remains. Posted by GEOKARJO on Feb. 11 2005,8:40 pm
Posted for Jim Hanson
Posted by GEOKARJO on Feb. 11 2005,8:44 pm
Posted for Jim Hanson
Posted by GEOKARJO on Feb. 11 2005,8:47 pm
Posted for Jim Hanson
Posted by GEOKARJO on Feb. 11 2005,8:49 pm
Posted for Jim Hanson
Posted by jimhanson on Feb. 11 2005,11:48 pm
Thanks, Geo.!The first picture is of the airport in the early 50s--it was just a field, you could land any direction. If you can blow up the pictures, note the lack of houses along Bridge--no golf course, Bridge is just a gravel road--nothing around the fairgrounds. The picture of the paved runway is 1955. Again, Bridge is only a gravel road--housing stopped at the fairgrounds. The next to last picture is looking south toward town--again, the town stops at the fairgrounds. Note the small lake where the golf course is--it ran across where the small park is located East of Bridge, and all the way out to Goose Lake. The last picture is to the north and west. Note the lack of trees--most trees were used for heating and cooking up until and after the war--we have far more trees now than we did then. Look to the West--the lake and old dump site is barely visible from this angle--old highway 13 and Wedge Nursery are visible as there aren't any trees. Posted by shaker on Feb. 12 2005,5:57 pm
Jim, Broadway curved a little to the west, you see a little piece that juts out a bit, that was a turnaround. The long building just to the west side of N. broadway is the Town Club boweling ally. I can't make the court house out very good but I remember this, the jail was on newton and there was a large brick house attached to it, that was were the sheriff lived, It didn't go all the way to broadway it was still there when the 54 building was built. By the way I enjoy the old pictures.
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