Town file
Albia, Iowa
Albia, Iowa (Monroe County, Iowa) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 327, "Beer, Sex & Jealousy" (15 October 2022). Albia, Iowa, is a small town of 3,713 people in the south central part of the state, where the median household income is $43,877 and the median home costs $115,800.
- Town
- Albia
- County
- Monroe County
- State
- Iowa
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 327
- Approximate location
- 41.027, -92.804
Episode 327 / 15 October 2022 / 67 min / express
Beer, Sex & Jealousy
"We are in Albia, Iowa, in south central Iowa, population 3,713; the murder itself happened about 45 minutes away in Derby, but all the people are from Albia." about 0:03:04
The case: Murder of Jeff Willems (November 1983). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 3,713
- Median household income
- $43,877
- Median home value
- $115,800
History, in brief
- Named after Albia, New York, the home town of an early settler. about 0:04:18
- A room and pillar coal mine about two and a half miles west of Albia opened around 1877. about 0:04:50
- On February 14, 1893, a gunpowder charge ignited a dust explosion in the mine; one miner was killed and seven more died of their injuries. about 0:04:42
- By the time of the explosion the mining extended more than a thousand yards from the hoisting shaft and employed 60 miners and 20 other men. about 0:04:55
- Coal mining ran through the area in the 1900s and every town was a little company town; when the mine closed everybody left, as at Derby. about 0:05:47
The reviews read out
3 stars
"Everyone knows each other and teachers have better relationships with students, but there are few opportunities or stores and you have to drive to bigger cities; school life could be more challenging but there are no resources."about 0:06:14
4 stars
"The police and fire departments do their job; the fire department is strictly volunteer and the police patrol the area."about 0:07:19
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Agency, Iowa26 miles
- Libertyville, Iowa40 miles
- Norwalk, Iowa56 miles
- Bonaparte, Iowa57 miles
- Keokuk, Iowa85 miles
- West Liberty, Iowa88 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.