Alto is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Bowne Township, Kent County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Geography

Alto is situated on Pratt Lake Creek, at the intersection of Bancroft Avenue and 60th Street, just west of M-50, about two miles south of exit 52 off

I-96 Interstate 96 (I-96) is an east–west Interstate Highway that runs for approximately entirely within the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 (US 31) and Bu ...

. Alto is situated at on the boundary between

section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sign ...

33 of Lowell Township and section 4 of Bowne Township, although it lies mostly within Bowne. The Alto ZIP code 49302 serves most of Bowne Township as well as portions of Lowell Township to the north, Cascade Township to the northwest, and Caledonia Township to the west. It also serves a very small area of Campbell Township in

Ionia County Ionia County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 66,804. The county seat is Ionia. The Ionia County Courthouse was designed by Claire Allen, a prominent southern Michigan architect. Ion ...

around the community of Elmdale.49302 5-Digit ZCTA, 493 3-Digit ZCTA - Reference Map - American FactFinder
U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 census

History

Alto was founded by David N. Skidmore in 1845. A post office was established in September 1851, with Daniel C McVean as the first postmaster. Alto was also a station on the

Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad The Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad (DL&N) is a defunct railroad which was formed on December 27, 1876 as a reorganization of the foreclosed Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Rail Road. The segment of its main line from Detroit to Lansing ...

. It was named by Lucy Skidmore McVean for being the highest point of land along the railroad between

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. The annual Alto Harvest Festival is held in September of each year. This tradition started in 1970.

Education

Lowell and Caledonia Area Schools operates area public schools. Alto and Caledonia Elementary Schools serves Alto, while Lowell and Caledonia Middle School and Lowell High School serve the entire district.
Elementary school boundary descriptions here
(see text for information on Alto elementary)

References

Unincorporated communities in Kent County, Michigan Grand Rapids metropolitan area Populated places established in 1845 Unincorporated communities in Michigan {{KentCountyMI-geo-stub

Geography

History

Education

See also

References