Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1860.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 77% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Montgomery’s overall grade.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Montgomery’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1783.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.3 points).
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.
Montgomery was incorporated as a borough by the Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania on March 21, 1887, from part of Clinton Township. The history of the settlement of Montgomery begins in 1783 when John Lawson established a homestead there. Nicholas Shaffer built a gristmill in Montgomery in 1795. A sawmill and a wool carding mill were other early industries found on Black Hole Creek which flows through Montgomery.
Peaked at 2,166 in 1950; 1,568 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Montgomery’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Montgomery, 1897–1923
Passages that mention Montgomery, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical collections relating to Gwynedd, a township of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, settled, 1696, by immigrants from Wales, with some data referring to the adjoining township, of Montgomery, also settled by Welsh1897 · page 289Read the page →
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presented : To the Honorable the Justices at the County Court of Quarterly Sessions, held at Philadelphia the 2d day of December, 171 7. The petition of the subscribers. Inhabitants of the Township of Montgomery and the parts adjacent humbly sheweth : That your petitioners and others the neighboring inhabitants are very much incommoded for want of a road from Montgomery aforesaid to the great road from the Township of Gwynedd to Philadelphia, wherefore [they suggest that a convenient one to meet-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical collections relating to Gwynedd, a township of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, settled, 1696, by immigrants from Wales, with some data referring to the adjoining township, of Montgomery, also settled by Welsh1897 · page 293Read the page →
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At the September Court, 1731, was presented the following : We ye inhabitants of the Township of Montgomery and others near joyning,' Humbly petition : Whereas there is a road Lately laid out and confirmed at the last court of Quarter Sessions held at Newtown for ve County of Bucks, beginning at James David's corner on ye county Line and thence Leading to pine Run mills'* and to Buckingham meeting-house, which road will be very usefull to us and those near us in the Countv of Bucks in order to pass & Repass to ye said pine run mills and also to mar-
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Biographical annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, containing genealogical records of representative families, including many of the early settlers and biographical sketches of prominent citizens1904Read the page →
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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
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Montgomery County, Pennsylvania1923 · page 123Read the page →
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founded in this county in Whitemarsh township in 1710, and ten years later St. James Church was founded in Providence (now Lower), and by 1832 these churches had increased to four and in 1870 to ten. There are now about a dozen Episcopal churches in Montgomery county. The list of parishes given in 1890 for this county is thus: St. Thomas' congregation of Whitemarsh, founded in 1710; St. James' Church of Lower Providence, organized 1730; St. John's of Norristown, 1812; Christ's of Pottstown, 1828; Church of the Redeemer, Lower Merion, 1848; St.
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.
Timeline
Montgomery, 1783 to 1950
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Montgomery. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1924Milton 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.
Every building
Montgomery, building by building, 1897–1920
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Montgomery’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, Montgomery Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Montgomery Station
1860–1894
Montgomery
1894–today
18601940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Montgomery’s history
What year was Montgomery founded?
In 1783, according to Wikidata. Montgomery’s post office opened in 1860, and the census of 1880 counted 414 people here.
How does Montgomery rank for history?
Montgomery is more historic than 77% 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 Montgomery?
58% of Montgomery’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.3 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1938.
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 (6), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1917
1917
2008
2008
