BlockBefore

Alton, Iowa

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Nassau Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51003. The Survey maps it on the Alton quadrangle. 1,248 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,325 feet above sea level.

Alton within Sioux County

Population over time

2 figures

Alton grew from 1,216 to 1,248 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20101,216
20201,248+32 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 10 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

1 since 2018

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Alton in 2018, burning about 22 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
30 April 2018Debris and open burning22 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sioux County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 21 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 21 workings within 5 miles of Alton: 19 past producers, 1 unknown, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Alton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
CambrierSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Floyd GravelSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
N BloemendaalSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
North Alton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Old County PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Ruppert BrosSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Sioux-Vandeweerd PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Sioux County

Storms near this place

23 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alton in 23 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 13 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2012Thunderstorm WindAlton$20,000Thunderstorm winds damaged trees and power lines, and blew down a grain bin and cattle shed. The peak gust was measured by Iowa RWIS equipment.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindAlton-On the east side of town, an enclosed trailer was flipped on its side by thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindAlton-Significant building damage occurred at the lumber yard in Alton.
July 2025Flash FloodAlton-Runoff from heavy rainfall caused the Floyd River at Alton to rise 5 feet in less than 3 hours, resulting in a brief period over flood stage.
May 2017Tornado (EF0)Alton-A brief touchdown.
October 2015Tornado (EF0)Alton-A brief tornado caused no reported damage.
August 2013Thunderstorm WindAlton-Thunderstorm winds caused an unknown amount of tree damage.
July 2012HailAlton-Large hail caused an unknown amount of damage to vehicles and crops.
May 2011Thunderstorm WindAlton-Thunderstorm winds uprooted a large tree.
June 2008FloodAlton-Heavy rain caused minor flooding of farmland along the Floyd River.
August 2018HailAlton-no account filed
August 2018HailAlton-no account filed
June 2014HailAlton-no account filed
August 2012HailAlton-no account filed
July 2012HailAlton-no account filed
April 2010HailAlton-no account filed
July 2007HailAlton-no account filed
March 2006HailAlton-no account filed
May 2004HailAlton-no account filed
June 2002HailAlton-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindAlton-no account filed
June 2001HailAlton-no account filed
August 2001HailAlton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sioux County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Orange City2.9 miles7
Carnes4.8 miles10
Newkirk5.9 miles7
Granville7.3 miles9
Hospers8.1 miles7
Maurice9.1 miles10
Middleburg9.2 miles7
Sioux Center10.8 miles8

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on AltonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1947745The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 454157. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.