{"id":1075,"date":"2017-10-27T20:45:08","date_gmt":"2017-10-28T01:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madison-historical.siue.edu\/encyclopedia\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2020-04-13T11:57:40","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T16:57:40","slug":"alton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madison-historical.siue.edu\/encyclopedia\/alton\/","title":{"rendered":"Alton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frenchman Jean Baptiste Cardinal was the first European to settle the Alton region in 1783. Later Rufus Easton plotted the town in 1817, and in honor of his son, Alton R. Easton, he named the town Alton.((History of Madison County, Illinois, Illustrated. With Biographical Sketches of many Prominent Men and Pioneers<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Edwardsville: W. R. Brink and Company, 1882), 374 – 5.))\u00a0Alton was incorporated as a town on February 6,\u00a01833.((Ibid.<\/a>, 389.)) In 1840 the population of Alton reached 2,340 inhabitants.((1840 Census: Sixth Census or Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(Washington: Blair and Rives, 1841), 386 – 7.))\u00a0As of the 2010 census, Alton city has a population of 27,865.((Illinois: 2010, Summary Population and Housing Characteristics, 2010 Census of Population and Housing<\/a> <\/em>(Washington: Bureau of the Census, 2012), 62.))<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Alton in 2017
\nFrom the Maps & Plats GIS Division of the Madison County Chief County Assessment Office<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

To access the\u00a0city of Alton’s\u00a0website, follow this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more, see these Oral Histories<\/h3>\n