Montgomery is a city in
Le Sueur County,
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
, United States, 45 miles south of
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
. It was named after
Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish-born American military officer who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and ...
, an
Irish-
American soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer.
Etymology
The wo ...
who served as a
major general in the
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...
during the
Revolutionary War. The population was 2,956 at the
2010 census.
History
Montgomery was
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
ted in 1877 when the railroad was extended to that point.
Martin M. Malone (1888-1962), politician and businessman, was born in Montgomery.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , all land.
Minnesota State Highways
13 and
21 are two of the main routes in the city.
Minnesota State Highway 99 is located directly to the south. Montgomery is 15 miles from
Interstate 35
Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican bo ...
.
The closest towns to Montgomery are: North -
New Prague, South -
Kilkenny
Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...
, East -
Lonsdale, West -
Le Center. The closest major city is
Faribault to the Southeast.
Climate
Demographics
2010 census
At the 2010
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
,
there were 2,956 people, 1,185 households and 760 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 1,306 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.4%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.2%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.6%
Native American, 0.4%
Asian, 2.3% from
other races, and 2.0% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 6.4% of the population.
There were 1,185 households, of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.9% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.07.
The median age was 35.1 years. 27.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.5% were from 25 to 44; 23.9% were from 45 to 64; and 13.4% were 65 years of age or older. The population was 50.6% male and 49.4% female.
2000 census
At the 2000
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
,
there were 2,794 people, 1,105 households and 690 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,137 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.59%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.32%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.25%
Native American, 0.32%
Asian, 4.29% from
other races, and 1.22% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 9.77% of the population.
There were 1,105 households, of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.23.
28.7% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males.
The
median household income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...
was $34,145 and the median family income was $48,011. Males had a median income of $30,707 compared with $23,977 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
was $16,128. About 8.1% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 18.3% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Seneca Foods (formerly Green Giant) has a freezing and canning facility in Montgomery.
United Steel Products also has a large facility in town. The economy of the Montgomery area relies heavily on agriculture, and other assorted blue collar jobs.
Government
Montgomery is in Minnesota's 2nd congressional district, represented by
Angie Craig (DFL); Minnesota Senate district 22, represented by
Rich Draheim (R); and Minnesota House district 22B, represented by
Brian Pfarr (R). In terms of county politics, Montgomery is a part of Le Sueur County District #2 and represented by Joe Connolly.
Education

Montgomery is a part of the Tri-City United School District,
ISD #2905. The district includes a grades 9-12
Tri-City United High School in Montgomery; K-8 campuses in Montgomery and
Le Center; and a K-6 elementary school in
Lonsdale. The district's sports teams, the Titans, are members of the
Minnesota River Conference, and participate in baseball, softball, basketball, cross-country, hockey, tennis, track, football, cheerleading, wrestling, golf and volleyball.
The Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School is a parochial pre-K-8 school. Its sports teams, the Raiders, compete in the Tri-County Private School Conference in sports including volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball.
Arts and culture
Montgomery celebrates its Czechoslovakian heritage annually at the end of July with one of Minnesota's oldest festivals,
Kolacky Days. The festival dates back to 1929, when an estimated 6,000 people visited Montgomery for the first Kolacky Day celebration, held on October 1.
"The Kolacky Day spirit reigned supreme from early Tuesday morning until a comparatively late hour Wednesday morning. More than 1,600 of the celebrated delicacies were devoured," according to a ''Montgomery Messenger'' account from the following week.
Events at the first celebration included a
trap shooting
Trap shooting is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting. The other disciplines are skeet shooting and sporting clays.
Trap shooting is distinguished by the targets being launched from a single "house" or machine, ...
tournament, a
parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...
, sports and races, and a football game between Montgomery and Le Sueur Center (now
Le Center).
In 1931 Miss Leatta Ehmke (later Leatta Trnka) was crowned the first Kolacky Queen by Mayor Henry Westerman. For the 1934 celebration, a novelty button, sold by the Kolacky girls, was devised and is still in use today. Following the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
on December 7, 1941, Kolacky Day retreated to the background until the Montgomery Community Club revived the celebration in 1948. Kolacky Day officially became a summer festival in 1966 when the traditional date, the last Sunday in September, was dropped in favor of the first weekend in August. The earlier date and warmer weather brought huge crowds to the festival. In 1975, Kolacky Day became Kolacky Days and the event was held for the first time at the end of July. It is now celebrated on the fourth full weekend of that month.
The shift was made at the urging of the Green Giant vegetable canning company, to avoid conflict with the busy corn-processing season.
Other annual events include the Torchlight Parade & Fireworks, the Masopust Festival also known as "The Czech Mardi Gras" and the Miss Czech-Slovak MN Pageant.
Parks and recreation
Baseball
Montgomery's baseball tradition includes the amateur baseball team, known as the Mallards, the former high school Montgomery-Lonsdale Redbirds and now the Tri-City United Titans.
The Mallards play in the Dakota Rice Scott Amateur Baseball League (DRS) under the direction of the Minnesota Baseball Association. The Mallards participated in the State Tournament in 1998, 1999, 2002, 2016 and 2022. They play their home games at Memorial Field, in Memorial Park.
The Redbirds played in the Minnesota River Conference under the direction of the Minnesota High School League. The Redbirds participated in a few State Tournaments and won the Class A State Championship for the 1998-1999 Season. Now the tradition continues with the consolidated Tri-City United School District.
Recreation
The Tri-City United Community Education Office provides the citizens of Montgomery as well as the rest of the school district with recreational opportunities for all ages.
City parks
*Memorial Park
*North Side
*West Side
*Veteran's Memorial Park
Nearby Lakes
* Lake Pepin
* Lake Dora
* Clear Lake
* Gorman Lake
References
Further reading
* ''Montgomery: From the "Big Woods" To the "Kolacky Capital"'', second edition (2000), Montgomery Arts and Heritage Center.
External links
Kolacky DaysMontgomery MN NewspaperePodunk entry for MontgomeryMontgomery Chamber Of Commerce
{{Authority control
Cities in Minnesota
Czech-American culture in Minnesota
Cities in Le Sueur County, Minnesota
1877 establishments in Minnesota
Slovak-American culture in Minnesota