Monti, Iowa

Monti is a tiny hamlet located in the southeast corner of Buchanan County, Iowa. It is an unincorporated community lying on the west bank of Buffalo Creek between Quasqueton and Coggon. Fewer than a dozen homes huddle along the sole paved road which bisects the community.

Geography

Monti is located in the northern part of Newton Township, the southeasternmost of Buchanan County's townships. The village lies along County Road W-45, where that road meets with Washington Avenue, an unpaved and unimproved gravel road.

History

The town traces its roots to the late 1800s, when large numbers of Irish immigrants flocked to the state in search of new lives in the New World. The town's Catholic roots can be traced back to the first Irish settlers of Iowa [1]. A large church, St Patrick's Catholic Church of Monti, built in 1870, actually predates the town's existence. A town post office was built in either 1882 or 1885 [2]. Postal service was discontinued in 1902, with the introduction of Rural Free Delivery. Because Monti was never incorporated, population figures were never compiled. It is likely, however, that the town's population peaked around the turn of the century.

The nearby villages of Newtonville and Kiene were also located in Newton Township. Both towns' post offices closed in 1902 as well. The Chicago, Anamosa and Northern Railway went through Monti and Kiene [3].

Years of rural migration gradually shrank the area's population, emptying Monti's sister communities. Monti, however, was still a sizeable community in 1913 when E.R. Hensley took a panoramic photograph of the 70 students in St Patrick's confirmation class [4]. Gradually, however, the town's population began to dwindle. The CAN Railway was sold for scrap during World War I. The remains of the railroad grade can still be seen today at the north edge of the hamlet.

In 1998, RAGBRAI, a massive cross-state bicycle ride across the state, passed through the hamlet.[5]

Monti today

Today there are fewer than two dozen residents in this dwindling farm community. Though the town is very small, it has a community center (formed from the church rectory)[6][7]. Monti students (when there are any) may attend schools in the East Buchanan Community School District [8]. In 2005, the village was dealt another blow when St Patrick's Catholic Church, which had operated for 135 years, closed its doors. The parish was open from 1870 until July 2005.[9]

Monti is not found on most maps and can be difficult to locate. The town of Monticello, twenty miles east, also causes some confusion. Monti appears on the official State Map of Iowa. Visitors to Monti may locate the community by heading east from Quasqueton on D-47, then turning right (south) on county road W-45, and following that road south then east to a cluster of six houses approximately ten miles southeast of Quasqueton. These houses mark the nucleus of the community. The large Catholic church is the most visible landmark.