Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Services in Altamont, IL

Altamont is a city in Effingham County in south-central Illinois, the county's second-largest community after Effingham and part of the Effingham micropolitan area.

Altamont was settled by German immigrants who came from the banks of the Rhine River by way of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The town was organized in 1871, when the post office was moved there from the little trading center of Montville; Altamont adopted village government on August 8, 1872, and became a city on April 16, 1901.

Altamont's name was bestowed by J. W. Conlogue, who drew on Latin words for high ground because of the mound that rises northwest of town, and the city is known as the City of Plain.

Altamont had 2,216 residents at the 2020 census, living in 921 households.

Altamont is home to the Effingham County Fair, held at the county fairgrounds in the first week of August every year since 1945, featuring Standardbred and Thoroughbred racing, a touring rodeo, truck and tractor pulls, and a demolition derby.

The Altamont fairgrounds also host the Mill Road Thresherman's steam, gas, and threshing show and the annual Schuetzenfest.

The Dr. Charles M. Wright House, an 18-room Victorian home built in 1889 on North Main Street, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and is now a museum; the Altamont Living Museum is housed in the former First Presbyterian Church.

Just east of Altamont, the 217-acre Ballard Nature Center preserves woodland, restored prairie, and shallow-water wetlands and has operated as a nature preserve and education center since it opened in July 2000.

Altamont's largest park is Gilbert Park, with four baseball and softball diamonds and a nine-hole disc golf course, while W. C. Klitzing Memorial Heritage Park is known locally as the Train Park.