Welcome to Alto ...
Alto is located in Amherst County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Alto, you might consider that their post office opened in 1895.
Alto is 2,230 feet [680 m] above sea level.<2> In other words, the elevation of Alto is about ½ mile above sea level.
Time Zone: Alto lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Code for Alto: 434
Communities Also Named Alto ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 18 communities that are also named Alto - they are located in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota (2), Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Alto.
Communities near Alto ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Alto.
- Lexington
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Buena Vista
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buena Vista have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Buena Vista is located in Buena Vista City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,402 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buena Vista <3>
- Amherst
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Glasgow
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Forks of Buffalo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Marlbrook
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Riverside
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Riverside. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
- Riverside is located in Rockbridge County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Riverside
- From Alto to Riverside
- Allwood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Allwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allwood
- Allwood is located in Amherst County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Allwood
- From Alto to Allwood
- Fairfield
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Sandidges
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sandidges. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandidges
- Sandidges is located in Amherst County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Sandidges
- From Alto to Sandidges
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 Alto. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Alto.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Alto. 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 Alto.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Alto. See our Newspapers Page for Alto.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Alto ...
Looking for more information about Alto? 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 Alto, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Alto.
Adding Alto to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Alto 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 Alto was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Alto post office opened in 1895.
We also found Alto on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Virginia (1911).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Alto.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Virginia's counties, including Amherst, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Alto - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <6> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |