A check with the city’s maps of the past and present will reveal how Albert Lea has honored 10 of the nation’s presidents. And nine of those elected leaders of the past still have their names on local streets and avenues.

As Albert Lea developed in the late 1800s, there’s a clear indication that a series of streets in the southeast part of the city would have names based on presidents. Thus, the names of Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Adams evolved and are now designated avenues. However, a check with the 1895 plat book map shows there was also a street named for the nation’s fifth president, James Monroe. This particular street is now better known as Euclid Avenue. To the west of this area is Lincoln Avenue.

Albert Lea’s north and east side has four more streets and avenues named for presidents.

One of those streets is named Johnson. The nation has had two presidents with this last name: Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) and Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969). Yet there is an conjecture that this street was actually named after someone else with the same last name. Still, the name does salute two of the nation’s presidents.

In this same part of the city is Garfield Avenue, which was named for the nation’s 20th president who served for short time in 1881 until being assassinated, and certainly not for a comic strip and television cartoon cat.

Also in this part of the city are two short designated places with presidential names on the map known as Wilson Street and Harding Avenue. Wilson Street, located between Bridge Avenue and East Main Street, is a block long and is next to the Shell Rock River landmark known as the channel. Harding Avenue is just over a block long and situated between Johnson and Sheridan streets.

For many years there was a place known as Lincoln Park near the Fountain Lake Dam and based on Ruble and Bridge avenues and Albert Lea Street. This park has now been renamed New Denmark to better reflect the ethnic heritage and original designation for this north side part of the city.