Topic: Hotel Albert with a weird bus
started by: Liberal
Posted by Liberal on Feb. 05 2005,11:00 pm
Old picture of Hotel Albert with a weird looking bus.
Posted by n0esc on Feb. 05 2005,11:07 pm
Dunno if I would say bus, or if it is something closer to that day and ages limo. Maybe a Rolls Royce or Packard?
Posted by magter on Feb. 06 2005,11:04 am
Where was this? Why does it look so familiar?
Posted by Liberal on Feb. 06 2005,11:48 am
Just north of the courthouse, there is a bank there now.Here's another
Posted by magter on Feb. 06 2005,4:14 pm
So at some point they added two floors.??
Posted by jimhanson on Feb. 06 2005,5:34 pm
Yes, they added two floors.The Limo is really a bus--busses in the late 20s and 30s resembled stretch cars--look at the pictures of early Greyhound busses (started in Hibbing, MN.) You can still take a ride in busses of this era out at Glacier National Park--the park service keeps them up--and they are open topped.
Here is a link to similar busses in Glacier Park< http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0015-0407-0815-3820.html >
Posted by DrBombay on Feb. 07 2005,9:49 am
I miss the Canton cafe's chicken. It was full of MSG, but it sure did taste good.
Posted by hairhertz on Feb. 07 2005,11:26 pm
Those bus-cars were used by bands for travel, wish I could recall where I'd seen a photo of one.......also were used as super cabs for transporting passengers to hotels from train depots. If I recall correctly, they were also used by barn-storming baseball teams who went from town to town to play exhibitions against local teams. Black teams led by Satchel Paige traveled like that throughtout the midwest. Thanks for trip on old memory lane. 
Posted by jimhanson on Feb. 09 2005,5:46 pm
| Quote |
| also were used as super cabs for transporting passengers to hotels from train depots. |
Posted by Botto 82 on Feb. 21 2005,2:49 am
Used to work at the Canton. That building looked strangely alone, once the Albert was gone.
Posted by Slashin on Feb. 21 2005,4:49 pm
I was told that Elizabeth Taylor stayed at the Hotel Albert on one of her wedding trips in the 1950's. She and he husband were traveling cross country by train and got off for a nights rest. Any one know if this is true?
Posted by Replicant on Feb. 21 2005,5:13 pm
Last time I was in the Albert was when there was an open house or tour after it had been converted for use as a dormitory by Lea College. Anyone remember that?
Posted by LisaMarie on Feb. 21 2005,6:14 pm
Okay, so where was Hotel Albert? My mom said it was down on Court Street, but I thought it was where Wells Fargo is now. And was there another hotel, like Albert Lea Hotel or something like that?
Posted by Replicant on Feb. 21 2005,10:10 pm
USBank (formerly First Bank) and its parking lot are where the Hotel Albert used to be, directly across College from the courthouse.It had a restaurant called the Spanish Dining Room that was quite elegant for its time. An era that unfortunately is also gone forever.
Liz Taylor stayed there with husband Nicky Hilton. Other celebrity guests included Tom Mix, Eleanor Roosevelt, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans. It was built in 1900, rear section (toward Newton Ave.) added in 1917, and in 1924 the 4th and 5th floors were added. The last guests departed on Aug. 28, 1966 when it had been sold to Lea College. I don't have the exact year it was torn down, my best guess is 1973, after Lea College closed.
LisaMarie, are you perhaps thinking of the Allis Hotel, which used to be on Pearl Street until the late 1980s? It was finally condemned and torn down but had its own long history as the building had been moved from another location and was quite old even then. I forget what its original name was, if it was different from the Allis.
Posted by Mamma on Feb. 21 2005,11:37 pm
They still use these funny looking buses in Skagway, Alaska. The people driving them all dress in period costumes.
Posted by DrBombay on Feb. 22 2005,1:27 pm
I heard stories about the Chandeliers. Imported and very valuable.
Posted by FIBI on Nov. 25 2005,7:13 pm
Did they also use those "busses" as school busses? it seems like I remember one in Austin in about 1943. Does anyone have a picture of one?