RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Altan ...

Altan is located in Union County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Altan, you might consider that their post office opened in 1890.

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

Altan is 720 feet [219 m] above sea level.<3>.

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

Area Codes for Altan: 704 & 980<4>

Websites for Altan ...

Chamber of Commerce:   www.unioncountycoc.com/

Although we don't have any websites that are specific to Altan, the following might be of interest:

Communities near Altan ...

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

  • Indian Trail
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Monroe
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Matthews
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Waxhaw
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Stallings
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Weddington
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Wesley Chapel
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Lancaster
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Unionville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Unionville is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,344 people
  • Marvin
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Marvin is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,920 people

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

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

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

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Altan ...

Looking for more information about Altan? 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 Altan, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Altan.

Adding Altan to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Altan 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 Altan was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Altan post office opened in 1890. The Altan post office closed in 1904.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Altan.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including Union, 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 Altan 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 Altan may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Altan - 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 704 code has been Overlayed with the 980 area code. New phone numbers in the Altan area will be assigned with one of these codes: 704 or 980. As a result, placing a call in the Altan 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/