Alta Loma

Traveling west from the Gulf of Mexico the land rises gradually and becomes Alta Loma (Spanish for high land) in this area of Galveston County. In 1893 the Alta Loma Investment and Improvement Company platted a townsite here along a Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad line built in the late 1870s. The company developed water, electric, and telephone utility systems and helped establish churches, a depot, hotel, lumber company, general store, school, and a post office. Many of Alta Loma's new residents engaged in the farm production of pears, plums, figs, strawberries, grapes, and other fruits and vegetables. The school, depot, and businesses throughout Alta Loma were damaged in the 1900 storm. The town rebuilt and witnessed a period of rapid growth fueled by truck farming and a burgeoning dairy industry. Alta Loma and the nearby towns of Algoa and Arcadia formed the Santa Fe Consolidated School District in 1928. In the 1930s many Alta Lomans left farming for jobs in Texas City's burgeoning petroleum industry. the town continued to grow and in 1966 the Alta Loma Business Association was formed. Alta Loma and its neighboring community, Arcadia, officially merged in 1978 to form the incorporated city of Santa Fe.

Alta Loma is a historical marker in Santa Fe, Galveston County, dedicated in 1994. It is one of 281 historical markers documented in Galveston County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 352 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.3708, -95.0820 near Santa Fe. The nearest cataloged historic site is Original Site of First Baptist Church of Alta Lome (historical marker), about 0.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include Hitchcock Depot, Alta Loma Cemetery, and Santa Fe Consolidated High School.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5167009919. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.