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History · Montrose

Montrose’s post office opened in 1880, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Montrose began

When was Montrose founded?

1880

The Montrose post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 563 in 18902020 census: 468146 years
Founding year: the first Montrose post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Montrose’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 Montrose are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Montrose’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Montrose’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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The story

How Montrose came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Montrose.

Read it all →

Montrose was laid out in 1880. Some say the town was named after the novel A Legend of Montrose by Sir Walter Scott, while others believe the name is an amalgamation of "mountain" and "rose", features near the original town site. A post office has been in operation in Montrose since 1880. Then-President George H. W. Bush visited Montrose for a political event in 1992.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Montrose, decade by decade

Today29 recent
Porter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkPorter Sculpture Park2009Porter Sculpture ParkSDMap-doton-Montrose2004SDMap-doton-Montrose
On the map

Montrose on the map, 1964 to 1985

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

Montrose on the 1964 USGS mapMontrose on the 1985 USGS map1964Montrose sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Montrose, census by census

01002003004005006001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 563

Between 375 and 563 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Montrose

Nobody well known was born in Montrose itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Larry PresslerU.S. politician · b. 1942
Karl MundtAmerican politician · b. 1900
Kay SchallenkampAmerican education administrator · b. 1949

Questions about Montrose’s history

What year was Montrose founded?

The Montrose post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (28), Wikipedia, 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.