Montrose was laid out in 1812 in an area of Pennsylvania historically associated with the
Indigenous Susquehannock people. The first non-Indigenous settler in 1800 was a Revolutionary War officer, Captain Bartlett Hinds, who traveled from Long Island, NY with his stepson, Isaac Post. Upon seeing the area's natural beauty and potential, he returned to NY to bring his family to Pennsylvania. Among other settlers were the descendants of
Sir Peter Warren, Knight Vice Admiral on England's Royal Fleet. Upon retirement, he was given the land by grateful American soldiers. The first courthouse was built a year later, and Montrose was incorporated as a borough from part of Bridgewater Township on March 29, 1824. Prominent area citizens Capt. B. Hinds and Dr. Robert H. Rose collaborated to name Montrose after a town in Scotland. The traditional older industries included creameries and the manufacturing of cut glass, boxes, sawing machinery, lumber, etc. The area of Montrose is notable for its many quarry sites. A type of rock that is indigenous to this area is called
blue stone. In 1900, 1,827 people lived there, and in 1910, 1,914 people resided there. Montrose was incorporated as a town and seat of Susquehanna County in 1824, but families began immigrating to the area in the mid-18th century, primarily from areas along the
Connecticut River Valley (western
Connecticut,
Massachusetts, and
Vermont). The
American Revolution dramatically changed the political and built environments of
New England. After the war, there was pent-up land hunger and many residents wanted some of the affordable land in Pennsylvania. When settlers arrived in what is now Susquehanna County they found rolling hills, clear lakes, and mountain streams with an abundance of natural resources such as
timber and
bluestone. In a very short period of time, the first families built Montrose in the style of their home New England towns: large colonial style houses surrounding churches, and both centered on a main street. A town “green” adjacent to the courthouse was the commons, or place for community events. Montrose played a significant role in the Northern Trail of the
Underground Railroad: "During the 1840s, the anti-slavery ideology prevailing in Susquehanna County took a decidedly radical turn. Abolitionists no longer content to limit their involvement to lectures and debates began helping slaves escape on the Underground Railroad. Of the eighty-two individuals identified as Underground Railroad agents, twenty-one came from Susquehanna County." Between the 1950s and 1990s, due to the declines in the
coal industry and agriculture, residents emigrated from this area to other places for work. In the latter part of the first decade of the 21st century
natural gas exploration, drilling and
hydraulic fracturing used in the
gas extraction process have created a dramatic pickup in the local economy. Due to increased revenues in town, the Montrose hospital (the only major hospital in Susquehanna County) was moved from an old and small facility downtown to a large, advanced facility just outside town. The population was 1,290 at the
2020 United States census; 1,664 at the
2000 census, and 1,617 as of
2010. The town's
Sylvanus Mulford House,
Silver Lake Bank, and
Susquehanna County Courthouse Complex are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places. The
Montrose Historic District was added in 2011. ==Geography==