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History · Alton Township

48% of Alton Township’s homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: maps from 1972 on.

1on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
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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 1944.
★ 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.
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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.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 228 to 265 (+16%).

Timeline

Alton Township, 1878 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Fountain post office opens
  3. 1885Post officeThe Fountain post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1972On 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.
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On the map

Alton Township on the map, 1972 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 1972 USGS mapAlton Township on the 1985 USGS map1972White SE 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.

On the National Register

1 listing protects 9 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Elias B. Olsen Ranch
Elias B. Olsen Ranch
Districts
All 1 listings
Elias B. Olsen RanchDistrict · listed 1986

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Fountain, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Roland Colony
Gone or out of use
Fountainlocale

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.

Richland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSherman TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBushnellIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townParnell TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAurora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alton Township’s history

What is on the National Register in Alton Township?

One place: the Elias B. Olsen Ranch (listed 1986).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.