[4] Between 1869 and 1875 the community was the location of Algona College, an institution sponsored by the Methodist Church.

In 1894, Algona, along with other Iowa communities such as Dysart and Wesley, became part of the project known as the "Orphan Trains".

As New York City saw booming immigration, it also inevitably saw a rise in the number of orphans in its asylums.

Unable to provide adequate care for them, it saw fit to ship nearly 100,000 westward to start a new life with families across America.

The Henry Adams Building, designed by Louis Sullivan in 1913 is located at the northwest corner of East State and Moore streets.

From 1943 to 1946 Camp Algona held nearly 10,000 prisoners, many of whom were put to work on farms that had family fighting overseas.

A museum now commemorates the camp's history including a nativity scene created by the POWs.

[5] A destructive F3 tornado killed two people and destroyed a large part of Algona on June 28, 1979, about 7:15 PM.

Severe damage was done to the central business district and a number of homes were rendered uninhabitable.

The fact that it was still daylight also contributed to the relatively low death count from this destructive storm.

In 2003, Algona drew national attention when it announced the purchase of the world's largest Cheetos puff.

It was meant as a plan to bring tourism to the town to see the puff by a local radio DJ.

The Catholic school system is made up of Bishop Garrigan High School (named after the first bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux City) and Seton Elementary (named for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton).

Drinking water is pumped from the Buried Sand and Gravel-Dakota aquifer and treated before being distributed to customers.

Electricity is produced at the George Neal Generating Plant in Sioux City, Iowa, Whelan Unit 2 near Hastings, Nebraska, and the Iowa Distributed Wind Generation Project southeast of Algona.

AMU is also a member of North Iowa Municipal Electric Cooperative Association.