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History · Alto Township

34% of Alto Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1971 on.

0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Alto Township’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 Alto Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alto Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Alto Township, in brief

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

Alto Township is one of twenty-two townships in Lee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 510 and it contained 224 housing units.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 565 to 510 (-10%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Alto Township on the map, 1971 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alto Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Alto Township on the 1971 USGS mapAlto Township on the 1985 USGS map1971Lee sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alto Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Alto Township

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

See all →
J
Joan AllenAmerican actress · b. 1956
D
Duane SwansonBasketball player · b. 1913
Lloyd IngrahamActor, film director · b. 1874
Knute HillAmerican politician · b. 1876
P
Paul R. LawrenceAmerican business theorist · b. 1922
G
George BristowMajor League Baseball outfielder · b. 1870
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Grimes SchoolschoolPeterson SchoolschoolPrestegard SchoolschoolThompson Landing StripairportThorpe SchoolschoolVallem Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Alto Township
Union

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.

Dement TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWillow Creek TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMilan TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townReynolds TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alto Township’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.