BlockBefore

Altona, Indiana

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1994. It stands in Keyser Township. It lies in ZIP code area 46738. The Survey maps it on the Garrett quadrangle. 213 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 899 feet above sea level.

Altona within DeKalb County

On record in Altona

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Population over time

2 figures

Altona grew from 197 to 213 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
2010197
2020213+16 (+8%)

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.

In the county-history sources

2,823 words on this township

History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Old Families, published 1914 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Keyser Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Keyser Township - 2,823 words.

Fires near this place

3 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Altona between 2002 and 2003, burning about 2 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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
Equipment and vehicle use1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Arson/incendiarism1

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
8 July 2003Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreIndiana State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
16 April 2003Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresIndiana State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
16 February 2002Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIndiana State Fire Marshal's Officenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in DeKalb County

Mines and quarries near this place

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Altona: 5 producers, 1 prospect, 1 past producer. 5 still produce. 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
Auburn Sand PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Fedrick PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProspect
Hixon Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Indian Springs PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Scott PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Sheets Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Steward PropertySand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Storms near this place

8 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Altona in 8 storm reports between 2011 and 2022: 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. 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
August 2022Thunderstorm WindAltona$300,000The Auburn-Garrett drive-in theatre outdoor movie screen suffered extensive damage with half of the panels being ripped off the screen and some supports bent or removed. Damage was estimated at $300,000.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindAltona-Trees down. Report via social media. Time estimated from radar.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindAltona-A trained spotter estimated 60 mph wind gusts with the outflow of the storm.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindAltona-A trained spotter estimated 60 mph wind gusts as well as observing a few smaller tree limbs down in the area.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindAltona-Reports of trees and power lines down.
May 2018HailAltona-no account filed
October 2014HailAltona-no account filed
May 2011HailAltona-no account filed

Every storm recorded in DeKalb 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
Garrett1.0 miles10
Cedar2.7 miles10
Butler Center3.1 miles10
Saint Johns3.7 miles11
Auburn Junction4.3 miles11
New Era4.3 miles11
Auburn5.2 miles11
Corunna5.9 miles10

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 AltonaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2336394The 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 430124. 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.