 Alger was first settled by Frederick G. Abbey in 1884.On September 2, 2008, Alger was the starting point of Isaac Zamora's shooting rampage that extended down to Mount Vernon.According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), of which, 1.8 square miles (4.6 km²) of it is land and 0.56% is water.