In 1880, Albin Riedel immigrated from Germany to New York City, accepted farm work in Minnesota, earned enough money to buy land in Fridley, and built a large farmhouse. In 1889, Swedish immigrant Ida met Albin Riedel, and they married. Their first child was born in 1891, and their family grew to nine children: Minnie, Edward, William, Walter, Arthur, Roy, Alice, Alfred, and Chester. By 1911, Albin Riedel was among the first in the area to install gas lights in his home, subscribe to a rural telephone line, and buy an automobile. In 1913, the farm's dairy business delivered milk and other products by horse and wagon to northern Minneapolis and parts of St. Paul. In 1918, Albin Riedel sold 200 acres of the farm to the Great Northern Railroad and invested the proceeds in dairy operations; with his three oldest sons, he built a new building in St. Paul, renamed the business Sanitary Farm Dairies, Inc., and expanded into Iowa and Texas. In 1937, the family kept ownership of the house and used it as a summer cottage, and it became one of the first homes in the Twin Cities to have central air conditioning, with equipment that required an entire basement room. That year, John Hawley of the Northern Pump Company bought the remaining land from the Riedel family to expand his business. In 1987, Anoka County bought the property and prepared it for the opening of Riverfront Regional Park and the Riedel Farmhouse for the community. Today, the farmhouse remains a historic space for special events and gatherings, and many descendants of Albin and Ida continue to live in the Twin Cities and support preservation of the site.