West Albion, Minnesota

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1986. It stands in French Lake Township. It lies in ZIP code area 55302. The Survey maps it on the French Lake quadrangle.

West Albion within Wright County

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 10 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1953 USGS Saint Cloud quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1957 USGS Saint Cloud quadrangle1:250000
1958 USGS Cokato quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1958 USGS Saint Cloud quadrangle1:250000
1982 USGS French Lake quadrangle1:24000
1986 USGS Litchfield quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

In the county-history sources

1,383 words on this township

History of Wright County, Minnesota Volume II, published 1915 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on French Lake Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on French Lake Township - 1,383 words.

Fires near this place

3 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of West Albion between 2001 and 2013, burning about 25 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
4 September 2013	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
12 April 2009	Debris and open burning	4.0 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
27 October 2001	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	20 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Wright County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of West Albion: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Anderson Pit and Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Wright County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
French Lake	2.7 miles	10
Albion Center	3.5 miles	10
Annandale	4.7 miles	10
Albright	4.7 miles	10
Knapp	5.7 miles	10
Highland	7.4 miles	10
Maple Lake	7.4 miles	10
South Haven	7.8 miles	10

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 653923. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.