Welcome to Alton ...

Alton is located in Kent County<1>.

The location of Alton has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Alton, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1851.

When the people of Alton refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Altonian<3>

Alton is 800 feet [244 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Alton lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Alton: (616)

Communities Also Named Alton ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Michigan communities named Alton: This one is located in Kent County and the other is located in Delta County.

Beyond Michigan, there are 37 communities that are also named Alton - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia (2), Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (3), Kentucky, Louisiana (2), Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario (3), Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas (2), Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Alton.

Communities near Alton ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Alton.

• Grand Rapids
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grand Rapids
  • Grand Rapids is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 200,031 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grand Rapids <5>
• Wyoming
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyoming
  • Wyoming is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 76,628 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wyoming <5>
• Kentwood
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kentwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kentwood
  • Kentwood is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 51,719 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kentwood <5>
• East Grand Rapids
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Grand Rapids
  • East Grand Rapids is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,991 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for East Grand Rapids <5>
• Ionia
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ionia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ionia
  • Ionia is located in Ionia County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,997 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ionia <5>
• Greenville
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greenville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenville
  • Greenville is located in Montcalm County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,386 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Greenville <5>
• Rockford
  (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rockford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockford
  • Rockford is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,395 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockford <5>
• Belding
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belding
  • Belding is located in Ionia County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,738 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belding <5>
• Lowell
  (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
  • Lowell is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,196 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lowell <5>
• Cedar Springs
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Springs
  • Cedar Springs is located in Kent County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,743 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Springs <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Alton. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Alton.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Alton. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Alton.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Alton. See our Newspapers Page for Alton.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Alton ...

Looking for more information about Alton? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Alton, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Alton.

Adding Alton to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Alton in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Alton was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Alton post office opened in 1851.

We also found Alton in the book titled List of Post Offices in the United States (1870).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Alton.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Alton. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Kent County: www.accesskent.com/

The official website for State of Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/