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ALTO, TEXAS
AKA Branchtown
Cherokee County, East Texas
Hwys 69, 21 and 294, and FMs 752 and 1911
12 miles S of Rusk
31 miles N of Lufkin
25 miles W of Nacogdoches
34 miles NE of Crockett
Population
1,190 (2000)
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John
H. Singletary cruising timber for the
Blount-Decker Lumber Company of Alto c. 1908 |
Photo
Courtesy Arcadia Publishing and
The Cherokee County Historical Commission |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Robert F. Mitchell is credited with being Alto's founder sometime
around 1849. The following year a post office was granted under the
name of Branchtown and in 1851 Mitchell opened a store. The land was
reportedly the highest point between the Angelina and Neches rivers,
and so the name was changed to Alto - the Spanish word for "high"
in 1852. Alto benefitted greatly from its position on the Old San
Antonio Road, and grew accordingly, with all the essential businesses
needed for a town to prosper. |
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Williams
Chapel AME in Alto
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson August 2004 |
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"M.E.
Church" in Alto
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
%7Etxpstcrd/ |
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"Residence
of F.B. Guinn"
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
%7Etxpstcrd/ |
| The Kansas and
Gulf Short Line Railroad arrivied in the mid 1880s and towns within
the Alto trading area had their populations move into town. In 1893
the town got its own newspaper (the News) and two years later the
population was up to 600 Altoans. Alto incorporated in 1909. |
| Alto
recorded its peak population just prior to the Great Depression with
1,600 people but as things worsened the population dropped to just
over 1,000 by 1936. In the mid-1960s the population was almost back
to the 1929 level, but it declined to 1,252 in 1990 and is presently
(2004) at 1,190. |
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See
Alto, Texas
by Archie P.
McDonald
Alto, Texas, in Cherokee County, is the retirement home of legendary
coach Steve McCarty... But we digress. This story is about Alto, a
town originally known as Branchtown located on El Camino Real, or
the Old San Antonio Road, where US Highway 69 and State Highway 21
intersect south of Rusk, north of Lufkin, west of Nacogdoches, and
east of Crockett. Once upon a time, those places might have been described
as near Alto, for it was nearly as large as any of them...
Side Trips
There
are several sites near Alto worth side trips >
(From "East Texas Sunday Drives" by Bob Bowman)
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Alto Texas
Forum
Subject: M.E.
Church
Hi My name is Sandy Owen and I live in Ontario Canada. My mother's
late Uncle Charles Mallory (her father's half brother) and his wife
Cecelia lived in Alto for a number of years. She died in the late
1930s and and Uncle Charles died in 1943 and they are buried in Alto
City Cemetery. They were members of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church in the town of Alto. Upon the death of his beloved wife, he
stated in his will that the Church would receive money annually for
the upkeep and care of her grave. He also had built a memorial gate
at the cemetery in her memory. I am wondering if this might be the
same church and if the church still survives. My mother is almost
87 years old and is trying to find as much info as she can regarding
her favourite uncle. Any information you could provide would be very
much appreciated so that I could pass it on to my mom. Thank you for
any information you might have and wish to forward. Sincerely Mrs.
Sandy Owen, December 29, 2005
Anyone wishing to share stories, memories or photos of Alto, Texas,
please contact
us.
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