Founding year: the first Montrose post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1899.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Montrose’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montrose is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Montrose’s overall grade.
Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Montrose’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (32% of Michigan 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 C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1899 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Montrose’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Seymour W. Ensign, originally from New York then Saginaw, became the first white residents of present-day Montrose in 1842. The village of Montrose was incorporated from a portion of the Montrose Township in 1899. In 1980, the village became a city.
On Monday November 27, 2017, the northern loop set of Genesee County municipalities, including Montrose, began receiving water from the Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline and treated by Genesee County Drain Commission Water and Waste Division.
Passages that mention Montrose, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Genesee county Michigan1916 · page 842Read the page →
Read the text
engaging in farm work until he was twenty-five years of age. He then began working in a mill in Genesee county, remaining there eighteen months, then went to Elk, Michigan, where he built a hotel which he operated until about 1887. At that time he came to what is now the village of Montrose and built the Montrose Hotel, which was the first building in that village. This he managed until about 1898, when he was appointed postmaster at Montrose, in which capacity he served with satisfaction to all .concerned until February 9, 1916, a period of eighteen years, discharging his duties
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
John Berry came to the United States with his family in 1854, and settled in Flint, where he lived one year, then spent one year at the home of John McKinzie. In 1856 he purchased one hundred and forty acres on the river, at the edge of the village of Montrose. It was wild land, to which not even a road led. He set to work with a will, cleared and improved the land, erecting buildings and planting crops. He prospered with advancing years and became one of the leading farmers of the township. He spent the rest of his life there, dying in 1900, at the age of seventy-four years. Politically,
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.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
The Montrose post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1899.
How does Montrose rank for history?
Montrose is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. 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 Montrose?
11% of Montrose’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
