Not long ago local historical researcher Kevin Savick gave me some local news clippings from the past. Among these items were four 1958 Tribune news reports regarding the name needed for a new city school, plus a commentary about a school on the north side. In reality, those four news reports were actually the Town Crier columns written by the Tribune’s editor, Ken Allen.

With Ken’s column in the Dec. 12, 1958, issue was a ballot for local folks to vote on a name for the new Southwest Elementary School. Now, don’t get too excited or critical. I’m fully aware that there’s no school with this name. As I will explain, there were actually seven names suggested for this then new part of the Albert Lea educational system.

The rather simple ballot had four names and could be clipped out of the newspaper and sent to a local post office box, or by post card. Those names were: Henry Hastings SIBLEY, Minnesota’s first governor; Dwight D. EISENHOWER, army general and former president; CENTENNIAL, to observe the 100th year of Minnesota as a state; and Harriet E. BISHOP, the state’s first female teacher. There was also a line of this ballot for another suggested name.

One of those other suggested names was Mc Reynolds. John E. Murtaugh, local historian, promoted this name with these comments, “… Mc Reynolds came to Albert Lea in 1856 and owned the 160 acres in the area. Part of the McReynolds land is now the school site. Another part was donated by the owner as Graceland Cemetery.”

McReynolds was a Methodist minister and one of the first clergymen in the area. He died in 1899. Murtaugh thought this name was also appropriate because not far away and to the west across U.S. Highway 69 was the then new Methodist Church.

A few days after Murtaugh made his suggestion, another local citizen named Ila Dudley offered still another title for this new elementary school. Her proposed name was Dudley. It wasn’t in her honor, but for her grandfather, Joseph D. Dudley. He also came to the Albert Lea area in 1856. In fact, part of his former farm land was also included as a part of the new school’s site.

The seventh name offered for this school was Lief Ericcson. This was supposedly Allen’s favorite Scandinavian and a person from the very, very distant past.

Murtaugh’s logical reaction to the Ericcson name was, “He wasn’t an Albert Lean.”

Right at this point there’s no suspense involved with the name selected for this elementary school. It’s now Sibley. I have no idea if the votes based on the ballot printed in a 1958 issue of the Tribune persuaded the school board to approve the Sibley name.

However, the Southwest name is still in very active use for the nearby junior high school, or what’s now more correctly called a middle school.

The Tribune’s editor used three of his columns in late 1958 to comment about the name for the new school in the southwest part of Albert Lea. The fourth column in the Dec. 18, 1958, issue shifted the focus to schools on the city’s north side.

At that time there were three public schools in this area. One was actually the equivalent of a country school with the name of Hammer. This school was located near the corner of Hammer Road and North Bridge Avenue. The second was the present Hawthorne Elementary School, built in 1952, and situated between Hawthorne and Sheridan Streets and Garfield Avenue. And the third school was then located near the corner of Johnson and Marshall Streets and had the name of Northside. This school’s predecessor had the logical name of New Denmark. Allen suggested that a more meaningful name should replace the Northside label. Thankfully, he didn’t offer the Lief Ericcson option. In fact, no name change took place for the Northside School which closed in 1983.

Now, here’s an update on the three schools which are still on the city’s north side. Hawthorne is still there, Hammer and Northside are gone, and Albert Lea High School and Riverland Community College are the newer additions.

Ed Shannon’s column has been appearing in the Tribune every Friday since December 1984.