The story
Read it all →How Altona came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Altona.
Altona was originally called La Pier, and under the latter name was laid out in 1834.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Altona
Altona’s post office opened in 1868, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1870.
1868first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Altona began
When was Altona founded?
1868
The Altona post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 902 in 18702020 census: 463158 years
Founding year: the first Altona post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Altona’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Altona’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Altona’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Altona, building by building, 1886–1928
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Altona in 1878
Passages that mention Altona, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Knox county, Illinois1878 · page 499Read the page →
Read the text
The first school-house was built about the year 1841. It was constructed of logs, and was 16x16 feet. Mary Frail, now Mrs. Tupper, of Altona, was the first female teacher, and Eugeite Gross, who subsequently has figured quite prominently in the Legislature of this State, the first male teacher. The character of the school was good.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Knox county, Illinois1878 · page 499Read the page →
Read the text
John Thompson was the first permanent settler. He was originally from Pennsylvania, but removed from Ohio to Illinois in July, 1836, and settled in Knox county, on section 16, the present site of the village of Altona. Previous to this Jones and DeHart settled on section 21, but were scared away by the Black Hawk war in 1832. Mr. Thompson's nearest neighbor lived at Fraker's Grove, eleven miles distant. ♦ During the years 1836-7 a band of Indians, about 30 in number,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Knox county, Illinois1878 · page 618Read the page →
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Altona. — The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran congregation of Altona worship in a frame building 35 by 70 feet and eighteen feet high, erected in 1864 at a cost of $4,000. The congregation was organized in 1859. Rev. A. Lindholm is the present pastor.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Altona, 1868 to 1996
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1868Post officeThe Altona post office opens
- 20th century
- 1940
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1996
In the archive19960107 11 BNSF at
By decade
Altona, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1990s1 item
Today2 recent
2016
2006On the map
Altona on the map, 1940 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Altona. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1940Galva sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Altona.
People over time
Altona, census by census
Between 462 and 902 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Altona’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Altona
Nobody well known was born in Altona itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Questions about Altona’s history
What year was Altona founded?
The Altona post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.