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Welcome to Alton ...

Alton is located in Saint Tammany Parish<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Alton, you might consider that their post office opened in 1896.

When the people of Alton refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Altonian<2>

Alton is near sea level<3>.

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

Area Code for Alton: 985

Communities Also Named Alton ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Louisiana communities named Alton: This one is located in Saint Tammany Parish and the other is located in Concordia Parish.

Beyond Louisiana, 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, Maine, Michigan (2), 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.

  • Slidell
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Slidell is located in Saint Tammany Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slidell
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,541 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Slidell <4>
  • Mandeville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Picayune
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Picayune is located in Pearl River County (MS)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Picayune
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,886 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Picayune <4>
  • Abita Springs
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Pearl River
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Lake Shore Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Lake Shore Village is located in Saint Tammany Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Shore Village
  • McClane City
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • McClane City is located in Saint Tammany Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McClane City
  • Hickory
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hickory is located in Saint Tammany Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory
  • Eden Isle
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Eden Isle is located in Saint Tammany Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden Isle
  • Oak Harbor
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Oak Harbor is located in Saint Tammany Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Harbor

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 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 (so far) for Alton was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Alton post office opened in 1896. The Alton post office closed in 1927.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Alton.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Louisiana's parishes, including Saint Tammany, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Alton refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Alton may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Alton - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

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