Alton, Michigan
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1932 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Ensign Township. It lies in ZIP code area 49878. The Survey maps it on the Rapid River quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 10 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1932 USGS Rapid River NW quadrangle1:31680, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Escanaba quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Escanaba quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Escanaba quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Rapid River quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1983 USGS Manistique quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Rapid River quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
40 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 40 fires within 5 miles of Alton between 1992 and 2019, burning about 213 acres in total. 1 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 burning | 16 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 5 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 1998 | Other causes | under an acre | Hiawatha National Forest | GARTH |
| 17 September 2005 | Natural | under an acre | Hiawatha National Forest | OGONTZ |
| 6 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3.0 acres | Hiawatha National Forest | EAST POINT |
| 4 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 acres | Hiawatha National Forest | STONINGTON |
| 23 August 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Hiawatha National Forest | CORRAL |
| 21 August 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Hiawatha National Forest | OLD DUFFER |
| 11 August 2006 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Hiawatha National Forest | CB RAIL |
| 26 July 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Hiawatha National Forest | DUAL PILE |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Alton: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brannstrom Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Payne & Dolan Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Pit No. 207 Delta Company Rd Comm. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
1 since 2016Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alton in 1 storm report in 2016: 1 heavy rain. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2016 | Heavy Rain | Alton | - | Nearly five inches of rain fell in 24 hours at a mesonet station southeast of Rapid River. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ensign | 1.3 miles | 9 | |
| Garth | 3.6 miles | 10 | |
| Ogontz | 5.1 miles | 9 | |
| Rapid River | 5.3 miles | 10 | |
| Masonville | 5.8 miles | 10 | |
| Maywood | 6.3 miles | 9 | |
| Kipling | 6.8 miles | 9 | |
| Maplewood | 7.5 miles | 10 |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1619018. 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.






