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Welcome to Alden ...

Alden is located in McHenry County<1>.

The pronunciation of Alden: AWL-den<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Alden, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1844.

Alden is 1,000 feet [305 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Alden lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Alden: 815 & 779<4>

The ZIP code for Alden: 60001<5>

Communities Also Named Alden ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 13 communities that are also named Alden - they are located in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

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

Communities near Alden ...

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

  • Crystal Lake
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
    • Crystal Lake is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 39,642 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crystal Lake <7>
  • McHenry
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McHenry have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McHenry
    • McHenry is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,100 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McHenry <7>
  • Woodstock
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Burlington
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burlington have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burlington
    • Burlington is located in Racine County (WI)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,898 people
  • Fox Lake
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox Lake
    • Fox Lake is located in Lake County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,411 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fox Lake <7>
  • Elkhorn
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Harvard
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harvard have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvard
    • Harvard is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,979 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Harvard <7>
  • Delavan
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Lake Geneva
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Marengo
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marengo have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
    • Marengo is located in McHenry County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,377 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marengo <7>

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 Alden. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Alden.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Alden. 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 Alden.

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Alden ...

Looking for more information about Alden? 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.

In addition to the Tourism page for Alden, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Alden.

Adding Alden to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Alden in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Alden was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

X2X - From that list, the Alden post office opened in 1844.

We also found Alden in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Alden.

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

The official website for McHenry County: www.co.mchenry.il.us/

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including McHenry, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Alden. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Alden - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 815 code has been Overlayed with the 779 area code. New phone numbers in the Alden area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Alden area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Alden). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Alden or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025