Almont Map
Almont is a village in Lapeer County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,803 at the 2000 census. The village is located within Almont Township.
Almont was first settled in 1828 by James Deneen. It received a post office in 1835 named Bristol, for Oliver Bristol, the second permanent settler. The village was platted as Newburg in 1836. James Thompson, who donated the town clock that is located in the steeple of the First Congregational Church, is said to have proposed the name "Almont" in 1846 to honor the Mexican general, Juan Almonte." This interpretation of the naming of the town (after General Almonte), although it is a version backed up by a newspaper story, and recorded in Hildamae Bowman's book on the history of Almont (Almont,The Tale of Then and Now, 1985) is open to question.
In 2000, John Doppke, a member of the Almont Historical Society, wrote "The myth of Almont being named after a Mexican General is widespread and often quoted as fact, but there is no basis for it. It would have been treasonous to name a town after an obscure Mexican General so near the time of the Mexican War. (Almont sent several men to fight in that war.) The area was known for prominent Indian burial mounds and was most likely given the name for that reason. The name Almont is still known in Ayrshire (Scotland) and in fact there is an Almont hotel there (in the town of Ayr). It refers to an old earthworks mound in the area. Unfortunately Hildamae Bowman published the Mexican story in her book and implied it had something to do with the donation for the town clock. In fact, the renaming of the town and the money left to purchase the clock happened many years apart."
Nearby cities include Metamora, Oxford, Lake Orion, Memphis, Emmett.