Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1944 on, and the census since 1870.
The Montgomery post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Montgomery's Station (1859), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Montgomery’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1900 and 2010, then more than doubled.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Montgomery’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Montgomery.
Montgomery was laid out in 1865 by Valentine B. Montgomery. Montgomery was a station and shipping point on the Ohio and Mississippi Railway.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Montgomery, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Mrs. Berkhimer's family are old residents of Pennsylvania, but they have been domiciled in Montgomery county only for two generations. Her father, Levi Shepherd, was a miller, and resided at Tacony, in Philadelphia county, whence he removed about 1834 to Moreland, in Montgomery county, and in 1843 to Montgomery township. Mrs. Berkhimer was born at Tacony, but
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of that month, speaks of himself as " being ane aigit blindman of fourscoir zeiris age or thereby, and haveing neyther wyf nor familie, during the haill tyme of his lyftime."' He is the one mentioned in a " Principal Decree Arbitral between Hugh, Earl of Eglinton and John Montgomery of Meikle Dreghorne, dated June 13, 1566," which mentions "John Montgomery, brother german to James Montgomery of Brigend, as one of the judges therein. '"- Brigend, or Bridgend as formerly spelt, is in the Parish of Maybole,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Kirks are one of the oldest families in Montgomery county. The ancestor of the family came from Scotland in 1687, and settled in what is now Delaware county, Pennsylvania. In the line of descent from him was the grandfather of the subject, Jesse Kirk, who was a native of Horsham township, in Montgomery county. He was educated at the schools in the vicinity of his home,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
" The town of Montgomery was built by Baldwin, warden of the marches under William the Conqueror, whence the Britons called it Tre Baldwin, or Baldwin's town. But the English gave it the name of Montgomery and Mons Gomerici, from Roger de Montgomerie, Earl of Shrewsbury, whose property it was ; and who, as appears from Domesday Book, built its castle."^ From this, Montgomeryshire derives its name.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereHale Johnson is born here
In the archiveDurham, Indiana - Montgomery Township
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Montgomery. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Montgomery.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Montgomery’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Montgomery’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Montgomery's Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Montgomery post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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