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History · Alta

Alta’s post office opened in 1871

Most of Alta was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Alta began

When was Alta founded?

1871

The Alta post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Towle (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 615155 years
Founding year: the first Alta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Alta’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Alta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alta’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Alta, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alta yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Alta (Spanish for "Upper") is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Placer County, California, United States, about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Auburn. The village is located off Interstate 80 and along the historical First transcontinental railroad. The ZIP code is 95701 and the area code 530. One of the few buildings other than private residences is the Alta-Dutch Flat Grammar School serving kindergarten through eighth grade students. The high school that serves Alta is named Colfax High School. Colfax High School is 11 miles southwest in the incorporated town of Colfax. The population of Alta was 615 at the 2020 census. A historical California place once…

Its first post office opened in 1871. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 610 in 2010, 615 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Alta, 1871 to 1935

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Alta post office opens
  3. 1891Post officeThe Towle post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1935Post officeThe Towle post office closes
By decade

Alta, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Delivery of first Airo trainset seen at Alta, July 20252025Delivery of first Airo trainset seen at Alta, July 20…
Famous people

Famous people close to Alta

Nobody well known was born in Alta itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Joanna NewsomAmerican musician (b. 1982) · b. 1982
Christopher StevensAmerican diplomat, lawyer and ambassador to Lib… · b. 1960
K
Kane HodderAmerican actor and stunt performer · b. 1955
Terry RileyAmerican composer and musician · b. 1935
Josiah RoyceAmerican philosopher · b. 1855
Jeremy SistoAmerican actor · b. 1974
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Alta’s post office has been open since 1871. Another post office, Towle, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alta
1871–today
Towle
1891–1935
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Towle
Gone or out of use
Narry Red Minemine

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Dutch Flat1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alta’s history

What year was Alta founded?

The Alta post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.