In 1891, the Air Line Railroad established a stop for travelers coming from Damiansville to the south. This stop became known as Albers Station. Shortly after the turn of the century, Albers Station began to grow. On January 30, 1901, the F.H. Albers Subdivision was platted by Edward Case, Registered Land Surveyor, and filed at the Clinton County Courthouse in Carlyle. This subdivision, which was located in the NW ¼ of the SW ¼ of section 12 in T1N-R5W, consisted of 4 blocks just north of the railroad station. A few years later, on January 3, 1908, the Town of Tonnies was platted for Henry Tonnies by Louis Graner, RLS. The plat, which was filed at Carlyle on January 8, 1908, consisted of 12 blocks northwest of the F.H. Albers Subdivision the NE ¼ of the SE ¼ of Section 11 in T1N-R5W.

By 1912, approximately 175 persons were living in the joint settlement of the Town of Tonnies and Albers Station. Business included three general stores, a hardware store, a butcher shop, a creamery, three saloons, a barber shop, a blacksmith shop, a livery stable, a lumberyard, a sawmill, and an elevator. In response to the amount of business being conducted in the prosperous little community, a private bank was opened in 1916. This private enterprise became a State Bank in 1921, and, in 1933, after the “national bank holiday” the People’s Bank of Albers was one of only four Clinton County banks which were allowed to reopen.

In the years following this early growth a number of other businesses were established including the Superflash Battery Company in 1918. In later years, the name of this battery manufacturing firm was changed to the U.S. Battery Exchange and was operated in connection with a mail order house. In its “Albers Souvenir Edition” on February 16, 1940, the New Baden News called Albers “the biggest little town in Illinois”, in recognition of the numerous commercial and industrial enterprises doing business in the settlement of approximately 200 persons.

Albers had the potential to grow, and following World War II, it did. In 1946, the T.C. Albers Subdivision was laid out by Joseph P. DuFour, RLS, as part of the NW ¼ of the SE ¼ of Section 11 in T1N-R5W. Subsequent subdivision developments in the years since have included William Korte’s, T.C. Albers’ second, Johnson’s, T.C. Albers’ third, T.C. Albers’ fourth, Huegen’s, T.C. Albers’ fifth, Gerling’s, and Heimann’s.

(Note: All information on this page was taken from the Albers Centennial Book.)