Alton grew from a settlement founded in 1870 when Hiram C. Bull and Lyman T. Earl traveled west from Cawker City to a bend of the South Fork Solomon River and chose the site for its promise, then flipped a coin to name it Bull City before it was later renamed Alton after Bull's death, a change that led the town to celebrate centennials in 1970 and 1985. Early settlers encountered a lush river valley and limestone bluffs, and as agriculture expanded, wheat and milo added to the landscape. The community's annual traditions include an Easter pageant of Passion Week, an Independence Day celebration, the Alton Summer Jubilee on the fourth Saturday of August, an October harvest dinner, an Easter breakfast, and a chocolate festival on the second Saturday of December honoring Russell Stover. Commerce has centered on grain and local enterprise, including the Midway Co-op, the Alton Craft Basket, and Hartzler's Hardware Store. Limestone from nearby bluffs shaped prominent buildings, including the 1886 International Odd Fellows Lodge building and the old Farmers State Bank community room. Alton's art and performance traditions include a trellis made from old implement wheels, the Alton fire bell at Centennial Park, and the Bull City Opry. The area's people included Quaker settlers who arrived in 1872 and were later joined by Czechs, as well as Jonathan and Sarah Post, Russell Stover, Bruce Goff, and coach Everett Stephen Gouldie, whose high school football teams posted a 51-game winning streak from 1962 into 1968 before his 1987 induction into the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.