Alto Pass, Illinois
human settlement in Union County, Illinois, United States of America
Alto Pass is a village in Union County, Illinois, United States. The population was 342 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 391 in 2010. The Bald Knob Cross and Bald Knob Wilderness are nearby. Alto Pass lies northwest of Cobden, Illinois, and Illinois Route 127 runs just west of the village.
History
Alto Pass was originally known as Quetil, or "Quail Gap". The community was platted on January 20, 1875, when the narrow-gauge Cairo and St. Louis Railroad was extended to that point.
The settlement developed as a railroad and agricultural shipping point. According to the Sundown Towns Database, Alto Pass was named because it was the highest elevation in Illinois traversed by a railroad, and by the turn of the 20th century the village had a post office, general stores, hotels, a blacksmith shop, a lumber yard, and other businesses serving the local fruit and vegetable trade.
The former railroad corridor through Alto Pass later became part of the route associated with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Alto Pass, Illinois” is human settlement in Union County, Illinois, United States of America. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Alto, Pass and Illinois, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “human settlement in Union County, Illinois, United States of America” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1889651. Authority coordinates are 37.570, -89.319. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 2010 and 1875.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Alto Pass, Illinois”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Alto Pass, Illinois primary sources, Alto Pass, Illinois archive and Alto research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Alto Pass, Illinois”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Alto Pass, Illinois” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.