Alto, Texas
10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1946 and the latest in 1984. It stands in the Alto census division. It lies in ZIP code area 75925. It stands on Alto Branch. The Survey maps it on the Alto quadrangle. 1,027 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 441 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAlto fell from 1,225 to 1,027 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,225 | |
| 2020 | 1,027 | -198 (-16%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 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.
- 1946 USGS Alto quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Alto quadrangle1:24000
- 1981 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:100000
- 1984 USGS Palestine quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
Fires near this place
269 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 269 fires within 5 miles of Alto between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,427 acres in total. 10 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 | 177 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 17 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 12 |
| Natural | 10 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | HENDERSON - 536 |
| 9 September 2011 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | GRASS |
| 9 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1.8 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 8 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | GRASS FIRE |
| 6 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | HENDERSON - 483 |
| 30 September 2009 | Debris and open burning | 10 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | GRASS FIRE |
| 30 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Texas A & M Forest Service | not named |
| 3 September 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | HENDERSON - 522 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
32 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alto in 32 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 16 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 3 flash flood, 3 tornado. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2019 | Tornado (EF2) | Alto | $600,000 | The same storm that produced an EF-2 tornado over Southern Cherokee County about 6 miles south southwest of Alto produced another EF-2 tornado with maximum estimated winds near 120 mph across the southern and western sections of the city of Alto, where it damaged structures along Highway 21, Blaton Street, and Putnam Avenue. Damage included shifting a single family home off of its foundation and significant roof damage to another home on Quincy Avenue. Several other homes sustained structural damage as the tornado tracked across the west side of Alto and then crossed Highway 69. The tornado then moved across the Alto Independent School District (ISD) and damaged its gymnasium and roofs to structures on the campus. It was near the Alto ISD where a second stronger tornado crossed paths with this tornado as it tore through the western and northern sections of Alto just over an hour later. |
| July 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Alto | $50,000 | An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 105 mph touched down along Highway 294 about 1.5 miles west of Alto, where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. A single family home along Highway 294 had its metal roof peeled off, with numerous adjacent trees snapped and uprooted. The tornado then lifted shortly thereafter in an open pasture near CR 2328. |
| March 2022 | Tornado (EF2) | Alto | $35,000 | An EF-2 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 125 mph touched down in a field just north of Highway 21 in Southern Cherokee County a couple miles east-northeast of Alto, where it downed large limbs in a convergent pattern. As the tornado crossed Highway 241, it uprooted trees, and damaged two metal outbuildings just off of County Road 2525. The tornado continued to uproot and snap trees in more rural areas unreachable by vehicles, before crossing over into Northwest Nacogdoches County. The damage across Southern Cherokee County was consistent with EF-1 tornado winds up to 100 mph, although the tornado strengthened to an EF-2 shortly after crossing over into Northwest Nacogdoches County. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | $5,000 | A few trees were blown down by high winds. |
| May 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | $5,000 | Trees were blown down by thunderstorm winds. |
| March 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | $2,000 | Several trees were blown over. One fell across a barn which was slightly damaged. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | $500 | Two trees were blown across Highway 294 near Alto. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | Numerous trees and power lines downed across parts of Cherokee County. |
| April 2023 | Hail | Alto | - | Quarter size hail fell at a restaurant on the southwest side of Alto. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | Wind damage reported in Alto via mPING. |
| June 2023 | Hail | Alto | - | Half dollar size hail reported in Alto via mPING. |
| April 2019 | Hail | Alto | - | Tennis ball size hail fell in Alto. Report via social media. |
| April 2019 | Hail | Alto | - | Ping pong ball size hail fell about 2 miles south of Alto on Highway 69. |
| April 2019 | Hail | Alto | - | Softball size hail fell in Alto. Report via picture posted to social media. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | Trees were blown down across Farm to Market Road 851 near the Alto Schools. |
| May 2017 | Flash Flood | Alto | - | Farm to Market Road 1911 was flooded just south of Alto. |
| May 2015 | Flash Flood | Alto | - | Water was reported across Hwy. 21 just west of Alto, Texas. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | Trees were downed in Alto, Texas. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | Multiple trees were downed across the southern end of the county. |
| March 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | A few trees were downed in Alto, Texas. |
| May 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | Trees were downed just west of town on Hwy 21. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | One tree was downed on Hwy 21 west of Alto, Texas. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | Several large trees down on Hwy 294. |
| January 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | Numerous trees and powerlines down. |
| May 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | Trees were toppled and several homes were damaged from the toppled trees. |
| April 2004 | Hail | Alto | - | no account filed |
| March 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alto | - | no account filed |
| December 2002 | Hail | Alto | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Alto | - | no account filed |
| March 1997 | Flash Flood | Alto | - | no account filed |
| May 1994 | Hail | Alto | - | no account filed |
| May 1994 | Hail | Alto | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redlawn | 2.8 miles | 10 | |
| Morrill | 3.9 miles | 10 | |
| Central High | 4.0 miles | 10 | |
| Linwood | 4.5 miles | 11 | |
| Brunswick | 4.8 miles | 10 | |
| Weeping Mary | 5.9 miles | 12 | |
| Hudson Chapel | 7.0 miles | 10 | |
| Bulah | 8.0 miles | 10 |
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 Alto | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q972861 | The 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 1372283. 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.
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.





