Montrose

Mainstreet c1910

Additional Images

Freight House 1913

Related Information

Montrose, CO
Elevation 5,811 feet.
Population 3,581 (c1920)
Denver 352 miles.

Driving south from Grand Junction to the high mountains in the Silverton area you will pass through a gently sloping valley near the Uncompahgre River. Montrose, a small, crossroads town, lies at the heart of this fertile valley. During the late-19^th century, Montrose was a supply point for miners who worked the river and probed the 14,000-foot San Juan Mountains to the south. Today, the residents in the area are mostly farmers or ranchers. The entire area is surrounded by acres and acres of lush farmland where they grow tons of things like cotton and sugar beets.

Lying at the crossroads of Highways 50 and 550, Montrose is a hub of activity for those seeking recreation, and the natural beauty of the Black Canyon and Gunnison National Monument draws many visitors each year. The area is shown in the USGS map from 1982 . Montrose is a convenient headquarters to use while one explores the surrounding railroad towns, such as Gunnison, Ridgway and Silverton.

The Uncompahgre Valley was once Native American land, farmed and hunted by the Southern Utes centuries before European’s arrived. In 1873, Oliver “Pappy” Loutsenhizer (13), along with other gold-seeking adventurers, founded one of the first settlements, lured by the promise of rich veins of gold in the valley. Though they eventually turned back, Loutsenhizer returned to the valley in 1881 and started the permenant settlement of what was to become Montrose.

Originally, Montrose was called Pomona, after the Roman Goddess of fruit. Later it was re-named Montrose, after the Duchess of Montrose, a character in a Walter Scott novel.

In 1882, The D&RG railroad arrived in Montrose on its way to Grand Junction to the north. The rail lines carried the agricultural products from the surrounding area and also served to convey materials flowing into and out of the mines in the nearby mountains,

In the early 1900’s, two dams were constructed on the Gunnison River in Black Canyon to divert the water to the Montrose area for farming. At the time, they did not take into consideration the ecological effects of the flooding of hundreds of miles of one of the greatest natural canyons in the world. Montrose has made good use of the water and is a lovely place today. You can see the effects of the irrigation diversion projects in these promotional photos from the D&RG that show the Montrose area before and after the initial water works. And just to be fair, here are before and after images of the Black Canyon.

The population today is over 8,000 people. Large, old growth trees and perfect lawns line the clean, quiet, residential streets. The beautifully refurbished, as well as newly constructed,Victorian houses, give this small western town an air of sophistication. Many of the old houses have been turned into antique shops, making treasure hunting a favorite pass time for a variety of visitors.

The rail yard, now mostly abandoned, was once the center of all the activity in town. Scattered around the depot, the old original buildings and abandoned factories tell tales of the past. One can almost see the ghosts of the workers loading sacks of potatoes and onions onto the train.

Montrose was a dual gauge yard from 1887 to 1953. Narrow Gauge tracks went out of Montrose south to Ridgway and East to Cimarron. Standard Gauge went north to Grand Junction. The tracks to Ridgway were converted to standard gauge in the 1950's after the Ouray Branch was removed and the Rio Grand Southern was abandoned. Today the line is still standard gauge and operated to Grand Junction.

A 4 stall Engine House was located south of the Depot. It was rectangular and built of corrugated iron painted dark red. Additional structures included a Freight House, Stock Pens and a Scale.