Alton is a town in Penobscot County, incorporated on March 9, 1844 from a portion of Argyle Plantation. In 1863, and again in 1871, it ceded land to Old Town.
Originally known as Township No. 3, it was bought from the Indians, then part was set aside for Waterville (now Colby) College in 1815.
Alton's first U.S. Census showed 252 people in 1850 and more than double (531) in 1860. But the post-Civil War period burst the boom balloon and the population fell steadily to an all-time low of 209 in 1920.
