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History · Montpelier Township

Montpelier Township dates to 1885

Most of Montpelier Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1920.

1885founded
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Montpelier Township began

When was Montpelier Township founded?

1885

Montpelier Township dates its founding to 1885 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 186 in 19202020 census: 77141 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1881.

What stands out about Montpelier Township’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 Montpelier Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18963 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1986. Watch Montpelier Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Montpelier Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Montpelier Township on the map, 1896 to 1986

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

Montpelier Township on the 1896 USGS mapMontpelier Township on the 1953 USGS mapMontpelier Township on the 1986 USGS map1896Jamestown sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story so far

Montpelier Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Montpelier Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Montpelier is a city in Stutsman County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 85 at the 2020 census. Montpelier was founded in 1885.

Montpelier Township was established in 1885. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 70 to 77 (+10%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Montpelier Township, 1881 to 1896

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Tarbell post office opens
  3. 1885
    FoundingMontpelier Township is established
  4. 1886Post officeThe Tarbell post office closes
  5. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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.

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People over time

Montpelier Township, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 186

Between 82 and 186 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Tarbell, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Tarbell Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Montpelier Township
PresbyterianSaint Huberts

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.

Severn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCorwin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townManns TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAdrian TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Montpelier Township’s history

What year was Montpelier Township founded?

In 1885, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Montpelier Township’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1920 counted 186 people here.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.