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Montrose is located on the Mississippi river between Keokuk and Fort Madison. Has a population of 957 and was the site of the First Fort Des Moines. Watermelon Festival August 27-29, 1998 usually the last weekend in August on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

The Montrose Sawmill, built in 1877 by Guy Wells, G.B. Fett, and D.J. Spaulding was big for its time. Employing between fifty and seventy men, it was capable of  turning out fifty thousand board feet of lumber a day, plus making shingles, lath, and fence pickets.

This impressive three-story structure is the first building constructed in Montrose as a school.

Other Facts

• Montrose Was a trading post set up by Louis Honore Tesson.
• He planted an apple orchard as part of his agreement and the orchard flourished when he went into debt , sold the land to his creditor in 1803.
• The area became known as "Cut Nose Village", after an Indian Chief whose name is believed to have translated into "Cut Nose."
• In 1834, the government arranged to buy the land of the original Tesson Grant from Captain James White, who settled on it in 1832.
• Then the government established a military barracks call Fort Des Moines. It was occupied by Lt. Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny in command of three companies U.S. Dragoons. Kearny proclaimed martial law in his district and was welcomed by the honest settlers. The fort was abandoned in 1837.
• The 1990 census lists the population as 943.