Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Alton Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Alton Township

53% of Alton Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1966 on.

0on the National Register
53%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Alton 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 Alton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Alton Township’s homes were built before 1938.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Alton Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alton 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

Alton Township, in brief

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

Alton Township ( AWL-tən) is a township in Waseca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 412 at the 2020 census. Alton Township was organized in 1866, and named after Alton, Illinois.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 434 to 412 (-5%).

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Peddler's Grove
1864–1870
Alma City
1870–1957
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Alma City
Gone or out of use
Alma City Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Alton Township
Alma CitySaint Anns

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

Timeline

Alton Township, 1864 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864Post officeThe Peddler's Grove post office opens
  3. 1870Post officeThe Peddler's Grove post office closes
  4. 1870Post officeThe Alma City post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1957Post officeThe Alma City post office closes
  7. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Alton Township on the map, 1966 to 1985

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

Alton Township on the 1966 USGS mapAlton Township on the 1985 USGS map1966Janesville 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 Alton Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Alton Township

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

See all →
Leroy ShieldAmerican film score and radio composer, pianist… · b. 1893
Ray John MaddenAmerican politician · b. 1892
Robert SheranAmerican lawyer, judge and politician · b. 1916
Adolf DehnAmerican artist · b. 1895
G
Glenn OdekirkAmerican engineer · b. 1905
Jerry TerrellAmerican baseball player · b. 1946
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

St. Mary TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMcPherson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townJanesville Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFreedom TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alton Township’s history

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.