There was a time when people made a close association with the part of town where they lived. This close association was based on their particular neighborhoods.

I’m not sure if this identification with certain neighborhoods is still strong in some localities. Yet, if you ask some folks here in Albert Lea where they live, the reply might be, &uot;It’s up in Shoreland Heights.&uot;

In some localities the reply could be based on north side, south side, west or east side, across the tracks, the other side of the river, Swedetown or Little Bohemia.

Out in the Oregon town where I grew up the kids based their neighborhood gang affiliations with the four public grade schools. The junior and senior high schools later tended to help these kids to blend into a more unified community spirit.

Here in Albert Lea there are several easily identified neighborhoods, plus quite a few which could be considered as rather vague. Anyway, I’ll do my best to list and locate these neighborhoods and see what results.

One of these neighborhoods, Shoreland Heights, has already been mentioned. Two other neighborhoods close to Fountain Lake are Oakwood, north of Wedge Street, and Park Avenue, north of the Albert Lea Medical Center.

Some of the city’s neighborhoods are based on subdivisions which evolved from real estate developments. These include Garden Villa, to the west of Graceland Cemetery, Ridgewood Park, north and east of Thorne Crest, and the Hammer Addition on North Bridge Avenue.

Other Albert Lea residential areas which could be defined as neighborhoods in this same category are Brookside, Southview, Southgate, South Shore, Southside, Morningside, Sondergard on South Margaretha Avenue, and maybe even a part of Margaretha itself north of the Elks Club.

One neighborhood which is clearly defined is the Ginkel Addition which is based on portions of Sheridan and Johnson Streets and Edgewood Avenue, and all of Cherry Avenue. This residential area consists of 61 homes that were constructed in the 1950s.

One city neighborhood seems to have had two names. One is the Northside. The other is the older designation of New Denmark, which is a name that was recently revived for the name of the park to the east of the dam below the Bridge Avenue Bridge.

There are five neighborhoods beyond the city limits that could be considered as rural residential areas. One is the Stables, northwest of Albert Lea, with a name based on a once-popular restaurant. Another is the nearby pioneer locality known as Itasca. Still another pioneer settlement is Bancroft, located near the Good Samaritan Center. (Come to think of it, maybe one could say the Good Samaritan Center is located just west of Bancroft.) The fourth rural neighborhood, near the intersection of U.S. Highway 69 and County Road 17, may have the name of Wildwood. And an even newer rural residential area which could easily qualify as a neighborhood is Indian Hills, also located northwest of the city.

There’s one part of Albert Lea which once certainly qualified as a real neighborhood. Please note, I’m using the past tense here. That’s because the entire residential area once based on Charles and East First Streets, plus River Lane, no longer exists. Instead, this nostalgic part of the city has been revised into the present Channel View neighborhood.

I have a strong hunch I’ve passed over several areas which could qualify as neighborhoods of the past and present. The readers can certainly help with their suggestions as to the names and locations of those other neighborhoods in and around Albert Lea and other nearby communities.

Tribune feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears Fridays in the Tribune.