Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1880.
The Altona post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Altona’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Altona.
Incorporated in 1906. A post office was established at Altona in 1874, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1913.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 382 in 1920; 213 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Altona’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Altona, cut from the printed page as they were published.
resources and liabilities each, according to the sworn statement issued October 31, 1913, equals $101,842.58. The bank is a four per cent, bank, and is a depository for the United States postal savings, Garrett schools, city of Garrett, town of Altona, Altona schools, Keyser township, and DeKalb county treasurer. The bank writes insurance of all kinds, rents and sells property, makes loans on collateral and mortgage, issues money drafts on New York and Chicago, sells high grade bonds, acts as executor, administrator, guardian, etc., and rents safety deposit boxes in steel burglar proof vaults.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Altona. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Altona.
Nobody well known was born in Altona itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Altona had its own post office from 1874 to 1913.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Altona post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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 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.
