Looking back: A long history of meat processing in Albert Lea
Published 10:40 am Monday, April 29, 2024
This aerial view of the Wilson & Co. plant shows just how expansive the plant was already in the 1940s. Animals can be seen in the stockyards at the south end of the plant. Photo courtesy Freeborn County Historical Museum
A Wilson employee works to prepare sausage casing at the Albert Lea plant, circa 1950. Photo courtesy Freeborn County Historical Museum
Several Wilson employees and “sheepmen” inspect lamb carcasses hanging in one of the coolers. A “Wilson’s Certified” stamp is visible on the rump of one of the lambs, and beef carcasses can be seen in the background. Photo courtesy Freeborn County Historical Museum
The 1950s sliced bacon division at Wilson & Co appears very orderly, with workstations in tidy rows and slabs of pork neatly stacked, waiting to be sliced and packaged. Photo courtesy Freeborn County Historical Museum
Wilson employees participate in a strike demonstration on Feb. 13, 1960, along Broadway in Albert Lea. Due to the strike, for 15 days in December 1959, Albert Lea was under martial law by order of Governor Freeman. Photo courtesy Freeborn County Historical Museum
In July 2001, the plant, then under ownership of Farmland Foods, succumbed to a fire. Authorities later determined the fire was started by sparks made when contractors were cutting pipes for a new sprinkler system. Photo courtesy Freeborn County Historical Museum
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By Sarah Lilienthal
The history of meat processing in Albert Lea has its roots in the Brundin Meat Market, which started in 1877 on South Broadway, but later moved its processing operations to East Main Street and built two buildings at the turn of the 20th century. Wilson & Co. first came to Albert Lea in 1916, when it acquired the existing meat packing site near Albert Lea Lake. Over the years, the plant was expanded and improved upon to encompass all stages of meat processing and packaging—all with easy access to the railway. During the mid-20th century, Wilson & Co. was one of the largest employers in Albert Lea, with more than 1,800 employees in 1946. In late October 1959 after the contract between Wilson & Co and the United Packinghouse Workers (UPW) union expired, plant employees began a strike that would last until March 1960. In 1983 Wilson & Co. declared bankruptcy, and in March 1984 the facilities were sold to Farmstead Foods. The 1990s were another turbulent time for the plant, as Farmstead filed for bankruptcy and closed the Albert Lea plant in March 1990. It was then purchased by Seaboard Corporation, but retained the Farmstead label for its meat products. A mere five years later, the Albert Lea facilities were bought by Farmland Foods, but unfortunately burned in a fire in July 2001. Farmland filed for bankruptcy in May 2002, and what remained of the Albert Lea plant was demolished in 2003.
