Welcome to Alton ...
The city of Alton is located on the South Texas Plains.
Alton is located in Hidalgo 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 1913.
When the people of Alton refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Altonian<3>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Alton has a population of 18,204 people<4> (see below for details).
The community of Alton is 160 feet [49 m] above sea level.<5>.
Time Zone: Alton lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
The telephone area code for Alton: (956)
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Alton had an population of 18,204 people. This is an increase of 47.51% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 315.24% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Alton had a population of 12,341 people. This makes Alton the county's 10th most populous community.
The population of Alton represents 0.05% of the population of Texas (which has 25,145,561 people), making it the state's 187th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 12,341 people, the population of Alton increased 181.5% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 4,384 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Alton.
Communities Also Named Alton ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Texas communities named Alton: This one is located in Hidalgo County and the other is located in Denton County.
Beyond Texas, 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, Michigan (2), Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario (3), Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, 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.
- McAllen
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAllen
- McAllen is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 143,751 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McAllen <6>
- Edinburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edinburg
- Edinburg is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 102,374 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edinburg <6>
- Pharr
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pharr
- Pharr is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 79,513 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pharr <6>
- San Juan
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Juan
- San Juan is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 37,034 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Juan <6>
- Alamo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamo
- Alamo is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 20,556 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alamo <6>
- Donna
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donna
- Donna is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,316 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Donna <6>
- Hidalgo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hidalgo
- Hidalgo is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,305 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hidalgo <6>
- Elsa
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elsa have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elsa
- Elsa is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,120 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elsa <6>
- Penitas
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Penitas
- Penitas is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,596 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Penitas <6>
- La Joya
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Joya
- La Joya is located in Hidalgo County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,581 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for La Joya <6>
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.
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.
In addition to the Tourism page for Alton, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on 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 for Alton was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Alton post office opened in 1913.
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 Hidalgo County: www.co.hidalgo.tx.us/
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Texas' counties, including Hidalgo, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 city'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. |
| <4> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Alton. |
| <5> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Alton - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |