Alpha

History

On June 1, 1872, Anson Calkins laid out the village of Alpha. Alpha was created as a railroad town and replaced the town of Oxford, which was located about three miles west of current day Alpha. It was located at the junction between two lines of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, and a since-razed depot was located at the junction. The north–south branch between Galesburg and Savanna crossed an east–west branch between Galva and New Boston. The east–west line has been abandoned and the north–south line is in operation as the BNSF Barstow Subdivision. The village was named Alpha (the first letter of the Greek alphabet), because Calkins believed it to be the beginnings of a great city. It was incorporated on January 11, 1895.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Alpha has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  428
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  386
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  317
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  311
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  296
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  287
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  280
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  273