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C+History
History · Montgomery

Montgomery dates to 1832

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #506 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Montgomery was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Below: maps from 1925 on and the census since 1880.

1832founded
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Mythicmeadows · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Montgomery began

When was Montgomery founded?

1832

Montgomery dates its founding to 1832 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 200 in 18802020 census: 20,262194 years

How historic is Montgomery?

C+

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1848.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Montgomery’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montgomery is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #506 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Montgomery’s overall grade.
Founding era1832, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19402.5% of homes (±1.5) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 34%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Montgomery’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1832.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Montgomery’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Montgomery are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1832: 194 years of Montgomery.On the map since 19255 editions of the USGS map, 1925 to 1993. Watch Montgomery change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Montgomery’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Montgomery’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Montgomery, 1832 to 1925

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832
    FoundingMontgomery is established
  3. 1848Post officeThe Montgomery post office opens
  4. 1870Post officeThe Riverside post office opens
  5. 1870Post officeThe Riverside post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1920Born hereCarole Mathews is born here
  8. 1925On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Montgomery on the map, 1925 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Montgomery. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Montgomery on the 1925 USGS mapMontgomery on the 1954 USGS mapMontgomery on the 1973 USGS mapMontgomery on the 1980 USGS mapMontgomery on the 1993 USGS map1925Yorkville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Montgomery.

The story

How Montgomery came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Montgomery.

Read it all →

The first European settler arriving in the area was Jacob Carpenter, who came to the Chicago area from Logan County, Ohio, in November 1832. In the fall of 1835, Daniel S. Gray, from Montgomery County, New York, visited the area where his brother Nicholas Gray had located in the previous spring, on a farm now within the limits of Kendall County. He made immediate preparations to settle there, and in the fall of 1836, after his family moved from New York state, he built the first wooden house in the area. It was located in the southern part of what is now Montgomery, near the west bank of the Fox River.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Montgomery, decade by decade

Today18 recent
Fishing on the Fox River in2020Fishing on the Fox River inFishing on the Fox River in2020Fishing on the Fox River inFishing on the Fox River in2020Fishing on the Fox River inBurlington Junction Railway No. 1521 - April 2020 - 022020Burlington Junction Railway No. 1521 - April 2020 - 02Burlington Junction Railway No. 1521 - April 2020 - 012020Burlington Junction Railway No. 1521 - April 2020 - 01Burlington Junction Railway No. 1518 and 1521 - April 2020 - 032020Burlington Junction Railway No. 1518 and 1521 - April…Burlington Junction Railway No. 1518 and 1521 - April 2020 - 022020Burlington Junction Railway No. 1518 and 1521 - April…Burlington Junction Railway No. 1518 and 1521 - April 2020 - 012020Burlington Junction Railway No. 1518 and 1521 - April…Burlington Junction Railway No. 1518 - April 20202020Burlington Junction Railway No. 1518 - April 2020Montgomery Illinois Little Engines - April 20192019Montgomery Illinois Little Engines - April 201920121020 14 Burlington Junction RR201220121020 14 Burlington Junction RRView of Fox River from2010View of Fox River fromMontgomery Park south entrance2010Montgomery Park south entranceMontgomery Park Playground2010Montgomery Park PlaygroundMontgomery Illinois Village Hall front view2010Montgomery Illinois Village Hall front viewMontgomery Illinois Village Hall corner view2010Montgomery Illinois Village Hall corner view20101205 04 Burlington Jct. Rwy201020101205 04 Burlington Jct. RwyPresident Signs Transportation Act2005President Signs Transportation Act
People over time

Montgomery, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,0001880190019201940196019802000202020,262

Grew from 200 people in 1880 to 20,262 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Montgomery’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Montgomery’s post office has been open since 1848. Another post office, Riverside, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Montgomery
1848–today
Riverside
1870–1870
18401930today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Montgomery
FrenchRiversideSt Paul Lutheran

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Aurora29 historic placesAOswego1 historic placeBBoulder HillIts storyDYorkville3 historic placesB−

Questions about Montgomery’s history

What year was Montgomery founded?

In 1832, according to Wikidata. Montgomery’s post office opened in 1848, and the census of 1880 counted 200 people here.

How does Montgomery rank for history?

Montgomery is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #506 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Montgomery?

3% of Montgomery’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 2004.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.