Formed February 11, 1883 (37th county)
Montrose County (42,680), Montrose (20,282)
A governmental, stone courthouse was built in 1922 to serve the county. It is located on 1st Street between Cascade and Townsend avenues. United States Highway 550 is Townsend Avenue. William Norman Bowman designed this Classical Revival style courthouse. An Administration Building was added recently. A Justice Center was built in 1998 of tan brick and stucco. Fentress and Bradburn designed the facility. An auxiliary courthouse is in Nucla. The county was formed on February 11, 1883 from part of Gunnison County as the 37th county. The City of Montrose has been the only county seat. The county and county seat’s names come from a novel by Sir Walter Scott, “The Legend of Montrose.” The Gunnison River flows through the eastern part of the county. The center of the county is 21.4 miles West of Montrose. The county is surrounded clockwise by Delta, Gunnison, Ouray, and San Miguel counties and Utah and Mesa County.
The area of the county is 2246.4 square miles. The county is 16 out of 64 in the state. It ranks 17 out of 64 in population in the state. It has a density of 19.0 persons per square mile making it 26 out of 64 in the state. Montrose County has 54.8% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 50 enters from Gunnison County to the east and exits north into Delta County. United States Highway 550 originates at the City of Montrose and travels south into Ouray County. The county is shaped like a trailer.
Montrose County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, manager, coroner, and treasurer (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Five District Court Judges serve Montrose, Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Ouray, and San Miguel counties and two Trial Court Judges, clerk, and county attorney serve Montrose County (judicial.) The county seat is located in the eastern quarter of the county. Montrose is the county seat and the largest city. It is 47.5% of the county population. The county and county seat are pronounced MONT-ROZE. The county is in the Montrose Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Montrose
Naturita
Nucla
Olathe
