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.

Among other settlers were the descendants of Sir Peter Warren, Knight Vice Admiral on England's Royal Fleet.

[citation needed] The first courthouse was built a year later, and Montrose was incorporated as a borough from part of Bridgewater Township on March 29, 1824.

[6][7] The traditional older industries included creameries and the manufacturing of cut glass, boxes, sawing machinery, lumber, etc.

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.

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.

"[8] 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.

The town's Sylvanus Mulford House, Silver Lake Bank, and Susquehanna County Courthouse Complex are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[10] According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2), all land.