The story
Read it all →How Alto came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Alto.
Most of the early settlers of Alto were from Gelderland in The Netherlands.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Alto
Alto’s post office opened in 1850, and 52% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Zion Congregational Church. Below: maps from 1955 on and old-book passages.
1850first post office
1on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Alto began
When was Alto founded?
1850
The Alto post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 1,055176 years
How historic is Alto?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Alto post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Alto’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alto is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alto’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194051.8% of homes (±7.5) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register1 listing, 9.4 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 77%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Alto’s 9.4 sits above most of its state (76% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Alto’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 Alto’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alto’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Alto in 1880
Passages that mention Alto, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin1880 · page 755Read the page →
Read the text
Bobbins, Clerk. The town of Waupun and part of the town of Alto were then embraced in the town of Metomen. The first resolution which was passed established the pay of all town officers at 75 cents per day, unless otherwise fixed by law. The town officers elected at this first town meeting were: Chairman, Almon Osborn; Side Supervisors, Daniel Eggleston and S. A. Carpenter; Assessors, James English, D. L. McCorpin and Jacob Carter; Treasurer, Harvey Sexton; Town Clerk, A. C. Robbins; Collector, S. H. French; School Commissioners, Henry Boardman, A. C. Robbins and Robert Jenkinson ; Justices of the Peace, S. H. French, S. A.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, containing ... war record, biographical sketches ... history of Wisconsin ... etc1880 · page 755Read the page →
Read the text
Metomen Town was organized at a meeting of citizens duly convened on the 7th of April, 1846, at the house of F. D. Bowman. Samuel A. Carpenter was chosen Moderator, and A. C Bobbins, Clerk. The town of Waupun and part of the town of Alto were then embraced in the town of Metomen. The first resolution which was passed established the pay of all town officers at 75 cents per day, unless otherwise fixed by law. The town officers elected at this first town meeting were: Chairman, Almon Osborn; Side Supervisors, Daniel Eggleston and S. A. Carpenter; Assessors, James English, D. L. McCorpin and Jacob Carter; Treasurer, Harvey Sexton; Town Clerk, A. C. Robbins; Collector, S. H. French; School Commissioners, Henry
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin1880 · page 325Read the page →
Read the text
Grand River has its source in springs in Sections 16 and 19, in the town of Metomen, and in Section 19, in the town of Alto. It flows westward through Green Lake County into the Fox River, turning four mills in the town of Metomen. Milwaukee River has three branches — East, Middle and West — in Fond du Lac County.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, containing ... war record, biographical sketches ... history of Wisconsin ... etc1880 · page 321Read the page →
Read the text
Grand River has its source in springs in Sections 16 and 19, in the town of Metomen, and in Section 19, in the town of Alto. It flows westward through Green Lake County into the- Fox River, turning four mills in the town of Metomen. Milwaukee River has three branches — East, Middle and West — in Fond du Lac County.
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
Alto, 1850 to 1955
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Alto, decade by decade
2024
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013On the map
Alto on the map, 1955 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alto. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1955Fox Lake 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 Alto.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Alto
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2006
Zion Congregational Church
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Greek Revival1
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, places now gone and burying grounds
Alto had its own post office from 1850 to 1904.
Alto
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Burbank SchoolschoolGarrison SchoolschoolKolsta SchoolschoolLinck Waupun QuarriesmineMadison SchoolschoolMonroe SchoolschoolOak Grove SchoolschoolWest Alto Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Alto
Alto CommunityCalvaryOak MoundWest AltoWood
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.
Questions about Alto’s history
What year was Alto founded?
The Alto post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Alto rank for history?
Alto is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Alto?
One place: the Zion Congregational Church (listed 2006).
How old are the homes in Alto?
52% of Alto’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1938.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.