DID YOU KNOW?
Over one hundred and fifty years ago, in 1847, the founder Cyrus Sibley laid out this charming village in large parcels and long lots stretching to Mobile Bay.
As early as 1768 there was a settlement here near the unique red clay bluffs. This point boasts the highest elevation on any of the eastern coastline from Maine to Mexico. A historic marker on Scenic Highway 98 just south of this property describes "Ecor Rouge". Montrose is almost entirely residential, and much of the community has been designated by the State of Alabama and the United States as an Historic District. Fourteen of the homes date from the early 1850's and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Also listed is this site, the original Montrose Post Office, constructed in 1890 and still standing on Adams Street. Scenic Highway 98 and several side streets are lined with majestic live oak trees hundreds of years old. The care of these trees is a community project of the Montrose Garden Club, founded in 1946.
When retired riverboat Captain Thomas W. Marshall and his wife and family moved to Montrose and made their home here in 1883, he was appointed Postmaster and served until his death in 1890. His widow was appointed to take his place and had this building constructed on the home property. Built in 1890 by Postmaster Ida Babb Marshall, this building served residents of Montrose for many years. In those days, mail arrived from Mobile by boat. Mrs. Marshall would take any unclaimed mail to the house every evening and residents would knock on the door at night to get their mail.
This building was last used as a post office in 1913. For a number of years during the 1940’s, Florence and Richard Scott donated the use of this building as a lending library for the community. It, along with the adjacent Chapman-Marshall-Scott home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Responsibility for the Historic Montrose Post Office was deeded to the Baldwin County Historic Commission in 2005.