Tribune Building

Tribune Building, 408 South Broadway

Constructed before 1886, this building was originally smaller and had an Italianate-style facade. After the newspaper office moved into the building in 1904, a two-story addition was made to the south end to house the printing presses and the building was clad in dark-brown brick. The north facade and second story of the east facade were modified to the present configurations in 1910. Four additional storefronts were added to the east facade in 1961 and the north-facade storefront was remodeled.

This building was known as the Morin Block, owned by the son of one of the city's founders.The Morins were involved in real estate, and at one point owned the largest amount of land in the city. In 1904 W. A. Morin and C. S. Edwards purchased \heAlbert Lea Enterprise, one of the local newspapers, and moved production into the Morin Block. In 1910 the Times-Enterprise was merged with the Albert Lea Tribune, operated by the Simonsen, Whitcomb and Hurley Company. All of the newspaper operations were centered in the Morin Block, which was expanded to the south and re-faced to become the Tribune Building. The two newspapers were printed and distributed from the building until the 1950s when the business moved to larger quarters. The second floor of the building was rented as the Tribune Apartments.

This building was home to the Albert Lea Evening Tribune for more than 50 years until 1961.