Alta Loma

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're heading west from the Gulf of Mexico, and the land does something subtle. It rises.

Gradual, easy, almost like it doesn't want you to notice. But by the time you're standing in this part of Galveston County, you're on what the Spanish called alta loma. High land.

And that name stuck. In 1893, the Alta Loma Investment and Improvement Company came in and platted a townsite right here, alongside a Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad line that had been built in the late 1870s. Now that company did not come to play.

They developed water, electric, and telephone utility systems, and they helped establish churches, a depot, a hotel, a lumber company, a general store, a school, and a post office. That's the kind of outfit that means business. New residents started arriving, and a lot of them put their hands in the soil.

Pears, plums, figs, strawberries, grapes, and other fruits and vegetables. The land was willing, and the people were ready. Then came 1900.

The storm. It damaged the school, the depot, and businesses throughout Alta Loma. But the town rebuilt.

And not just rebuilt, it witnessed a period of rapid growth, fueled by truck farming and a burgeoning dairy industry. Alta Loma was not done yet, not by a long stretch. In 1928, Alta Loma joined with the nearby towns of Algoa and Arcadia to form the Santa Fe Consolidated School District.

Then the 1930s brought a shift. Many Alta Lomans left farming behind for jobs in Texas City's burgeoning petroleum industry. The town kept growing.

By 1966, the Alta Loma Business Association was formed. And then, in 1978, Alta Loma and its neighboring community Arcadia officially merged to form the incorporated city of Santa Fe. High land, deep roots, and a town that kept reinventing itself every time the world asked it to.

What the marker says

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.