Alma, Michigan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alma, Michigan
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Alma City Hall
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Location of Alma, Michigan
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| Country | United States |
| State | Michigan |
| County | Gratiot |
| Area | |
| • Total | 6.05 sq mi (15.67 km2) |
| • Land | 5.89 sq mi (15.26 km2) |
| • Water | 0.16 sq mi (0.41 km2) |
| Elevation | 735 ft (224 m) |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 9,488 |
| • Density | 1,610.32/sq mi (621.75/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP codes |
48801-48802
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| Area code(s) | 989 |
| FIPS code | 26-01540 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0620002 |
Alma is the biggest city in Gratiot County, located in the U.S. state of Michigan. In 2020, about 9,488 people lived there. Alma became a village in 1872 and was officially made a city in 1905.
Every year, Alma hosts the exciting Highland Festival during Memorial Day weekend. This event brings together people who love Scottish clans. They enjoy Highland dancing, listen to bagpipes, wear kilts, and have a great time together.
Alma College is also in town. It's a smaller college with about 1,300 students. The college focuses on different types of learning in a living and learning setting.
Contents
About Alma's Location
Alma is located in the middle of Michigan. The city covers a total area of about 6.09 square miles (15.77 square kilometers). Most of this area is land, with a small part being water.
A Look at Alma's History
Alma was started in 1853 by a person named Ralph Ely.
Early Days and Big Factories
Alma was once known for the Alma Springs Sanitarium. This was a health resort built in the 1880s by a rich lumberman named Ammi W. Wright.
Later, in the 1910s and 1920s, Alma became very famous across the country. It was home to the Republic Motor Truck Company. For a short time, this company was the largest truck maker in the world! At one point, one out of every nine trucks on the roads in the United States was made in Alma. The company also made many "Liberty trucks" that American soldiers used during World War I.
Oil and Gas Production
Alma was also home to Leonard Refineries. This company sold gasoline and other oil products throughout Michigan from 1936 to about 1966. In 1953, Alma was the first place to produce a special high-octane gas (96 octane).
People Living in Alma
Alma has grown quite a bit over the years. Here's a quick look at how the population has changed:
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1870 | 402 | — | |
| 1880 | 437 | 8.7% | |
| 1890 | 1,655 | 278.7% | |
| 1900 | 2,047 | 23.7% | |
| 1910 | 2,757 | 34.7% | |
| 1920 | 7,542 | 173.6% | |
| 1930 | 6,734 | −10.7% | |
| 1940 | 7,202 | 6.9% | |
| 1950 | 8,341 | 15.8% | |
| 1960 | 8,978 | 7.6% | |
| 1970 | 9,611 | 7.1% | |
| 1980 | 9,652 | 0.4% | |
| 1990 | 9,034 | −6.4% | |
| 2000 | 9,275 | 2.7% | |
| 2010 | 9,383 | 1.2% | |
| 2020 | 9,488 | 1.1% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
Alma's Population in 2020
In 2020, there were 9,488 people living in Alma. There were about 3,519 households, which are groups of people living together. The average family size was about 2.68 people.
Most people in Alma were White (95.0%). About 2.8% were African American, and 9.1% were Hispanic or Latino. The average age of people in Alma was 30.8 years old. About 18.2% of residents were under 18, and 17.1% were 65 or older.
Alma's Population in 2010
In 2010, Alma had 9,383 people. There were 3,468 households. About 30.8% of these households had children under 18 living with them. The average age was 30.8 years.
Getting Around Alma
Alma is connected by several important roads:
US 127
Bus. US 127
M-46
Public Transport
The Alma Transit Center offers a "dial-a-ride" bus service. You can call for a ride from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays. This service is available in Alma and nearby towns like St. Louis, Ithaca, and Pine River Township.
Indian Trails also provides bus service to Alma every day. These buses travel between St. Ignace and East Lansing, Michigan.
Air Travel
For small planes, Gratiot Community Airport is available. It is located about 3 miles southwest of Alma.
News and Radio in Alma
Alma has its own local media. The Morning Sun newspaper, based in Mt. Pleasant, is the daily newspaper for the Alma area. The Gratiot County Herald, based in Ithaca, is a weekly newspaper.
Alma is also home to three commercial radio stations:
- WQBX (104.9 FM) plays popular adult contemporary music.
- Its sister station, WFYC (1280 AM), is an ESPN Radio station, playing sports talk.
- WMLM (1520 AM), licensed to nearby St. Louis, plays classic country music.
Because Alma is between Saginaw and Grand Rapids, people can also receive TV and radio signals from those larger cities, as well as from Mt. Pleasant and Lansing.
Famous People From Alma
Several notable people have connections to Alma:
- Keegan Akin: A professional baseball player who was born in Alma.
- Dan Goggin: An actor and writer, known for the musical Nunsense.
- Louisa Boyd Yeomans King: A famous gardener and author who lived in Alma for many years.
- Betty Mahmoody: The author of Not Without My Daughter, born in Alma.
- Kevin Puts: A composer who won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music and a 2023 Grammy Award. He grew up in Alma.
- Ralph Rapson: A well-known modernist architect who was born in Alma.
- Mitchell L.R. Walker: An aerospace engineer and academic.
Alma's Climate
Alma has a humid continental climate. This means it has big changes in temperature throughout the year. Summers are warm to hot and often humid. Winters are cold, sometimes very cold.
| Climate data for Alma, Michigan (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1887–present) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 64 (18) |
67 (19) |
86 (30) |
89 (32) |
94 (34) |
100 (38) |
108 (42) |
102 (39) |
98 (37) |
90 (32) |
82 (28) |
68 (20) |
108 (42) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 29.1 (−1.6) |
32.0 (0.0) |
42.6 (5.9) |
55.9 (13.3) |
68.5 (20.3) |
78.1 (25.6) |
82.2 (27.9) |
80.1 (26.7) |
72.9 (22.7) |
60.0 (15.6) |
45.8 (7.7) |
34.5 (1.4) |
56.8 (13.8) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 22.0 (−5.6) |
23.7 (−4.6) |
33.0 (0.6) |
45.2 (7.3) |
57.0 (13.9) |
66.9 (19.4) |
70.8 (21.6) |
69.0 (20.6) |
61.3 (16.3) |
49.7 (9.8) |
37.7 (3.2) |
28.2 (−2.1) |
47.0 (8.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 15.0 (−9.4) |
15.4 (−9.2) |
23.4 (−4.8) |
34.5 (1.4) |
45.6 (7.6) |
55.6 (13.1) |
59.3 (15.2) |
57.8 (14.3) |
49.7 (9.8) |
39.4 (4.1) |
29.7 (−1.3) |
21.9 (−5.6) |
37.3 (2.9) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −24 (−31) |
−29 (−34) |
−18 (−28) |
5 (−15) |
20 (−7) |
33 (1) |
37 (3) |
30 (−1) |
24 (−4) |
12 (−11) |
−6 (−21) |
−14 (−26) |
−29 (−34) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.17 (55) |
1.76 (45) |
2.10 (53) |
3.46 (88) |
3.73 (95) |
3.64 (92) |
3.26 (83) |
3.71 (94) |
2.73 (69) |
3.24 (82) |
2.66 (68) |
2.04 (52) |
34.50 (876) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 10.7 (27) |
9.9 (25) |
5.4 (14) |
2.1 (5.3) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.3 (0.76) |
2.7 (6.9) |
8.2 (21) |
39.3 (100) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 12.5 | 9.9 | 9.3 | 11.9 | 12.0 | 10.5 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 12.0 | 11.3 | 11.9 | 131.2 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 8.1 | 6.5 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 6.0 | 27.2 |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
See also
In Spanish: Alma (Míchigan) para niños
Images for kids
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Alma City Hall
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Location of Alma, Michigan
