Alton, Texas
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the Mission census division. It lies in ZIP code area 78573. The Survey maps it on the Alton quadrangle. 18,198 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 161 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresAlton grew from 12,341 to 18,198 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 | 12,341 | |
| 2020 | 18,198 | +5,857 (+47%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 11 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.
- 1940 USGS Monte Christo quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1949 USGS Mc Allen quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS McAllen quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Mc Allen quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS McAllen quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Alton quadrangle1:24000
- 1983 USGS Mc Allen quadrangle1:250000
- 1992 USGS Mc Allen quadrangle1:100000
- 2002 USGS Alton quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
198 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 198 fires within 5 miles of Alton between 2002 and 2016, burning about 1,010 acres in total. None started naturally. 36 were 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 83 |
| Debris and open burning | 72 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 36 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | South Texas Refuge Complex | LUNCH |
| 7 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Texas Refuge Complex | BENTSEN PILE |
| 28 September 2010 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Texas Refuge Complex | LA HOMA RD |
| 28 September 2005 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Texas Refuge Complex | DOFFING |
| 25 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | BRYAN RD FIRE |
| 11 September 2004 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | South Texas Refuge Complex | 1 1/2 MILE |
| 9 August 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Texas A & M Forest Service | MINNESOTA FIRE 5 MILE |
| 9 August 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 25 acres | South Texas Refuge Complex | BENTSEN PALM |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Alton: 3 producers, 1 unknown. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bleakley | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Hawkins Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| J-2 Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| J-2 Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | Caliche |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armstrong's Alton Colonia | 0.1 miles | 11 | |
| Salas Colonia | 0.2 miles | 11 | |
| Trosper Road Colonia | 0.5 miles | 11 | |
| Aloha Village Colonia | 0.5 miles | 11 | |
| Tierra Estates Number 2 Colonia | 0.5 miles | 11 | |
| Nuevo Alton Colonia | 0.6 miles | 11 | |
| Dude Hill Colonia Number 2 | 0.6 miles | 11 | |
| Rancho Chaparral Colonia | 0.8 miles | 11 |
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 Alton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q980543 | 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 1329468. 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.








