Welcome to Altoona ...
Altoona is located in Madison Parish<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Altoona, you might consider that their post office opened in 1888.
When the people of Altoona refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Altoonan<2>
Altoona is 70 feet [21 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: Altoona lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Altoona: 318 & 457<4>
Communities Also Named Altoona ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 10 communities that are also named Altoona - they are located in Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Altoona.
Communities near Altoona ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Altoona.
- Tallulah
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Rayville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Epps
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Epps is located in West Carroll Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Epps
- Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Epps <5>
- Richmond
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Richmond is located in Madison Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richmond
- Population from the 2020 Census: 530 people
- Pioneer
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Tendal
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Tendal is located in Madison Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tendal
- Dunn
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Dunn is located in Richland Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunn
- Quebec
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Quebec is located in Madison Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Quebec
- Holly Ridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Holly Ridge is located in Richland Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Ridge
- Darnell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Darnell is located in West Carroll Parish
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darnell
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 Altoona. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Altoona.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Altoona. 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 Altoona.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Altoona. See our Newspapers Page for Altoona.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Altoona ...
Looking for more information about Altoona? 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 Altoona, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Altoona.
Adding Altoona to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Altoona 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 Altoona was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Altoona post office opened in 1888. The Altoona post office closed in 1894.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Altoona.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Louisiana's parishes, including Madison, 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 Altoona 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 Altoona may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Altoona - 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 318 code has been Overlayed with the 457 area code. New phone numbers in the Altoona area will be assigned with one of these codes: 318 or 457. As a result, placing a call in the Altoona area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | 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/ |