Montour Falls, New York
31 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Montour town. It lies in ZIP code area 14865. It stands on Shequaga Creek. The Survey maps it on the Montour Falls quadrangle. 1,635 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 449 feet above sea level.
Research this city
Then and now
1898 to 1992The same ground, surveyed 94 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Montour Falls
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 3 records
Brick Tavern Standlisted 1994
Montour Falls Historic Districtlisted 1978
Montour Falls Union Grammar Schoollisted 2012
Population over time
3 figuresMontour Falls fell from 1,797 to 1,635 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,797 | |
| 2010 | 1,711 | -86 (-5%) |
| 2020 | 1,635 | -76 (-4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 31 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1898 USGS Watkins Glen quadrangle1:62500
- 1901 USGS Watkins quadrangle1:62500, 10 printings
- 1905 USGS Watkins Glen quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1950 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Montour Falls quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Montour Falls quadrangle1:24000
- 1962 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1965 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:250000
- 1986 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Elmira quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
92 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 92 fires within 5 miles of Montour Falls between 2000 and 2020, burning about 72 acres in total. 12 started naturally. 15 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36 |
| Debris and open burning | 21 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 15 |
| Natural | 12 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 13 September 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 8 August 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 6 August 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 5 August 2011 | Natural | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 4 August 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | N/A |
| 3 August 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
| 27 August 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Fire Department of New York | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 20 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 20 workings within 5 miles of Montour Falls: 14 past producers, 3 producers, 3 plants. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Salt, Bromine, Natural Gas. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Facility) Watkins Glen Well and Refinery | Bromine | Plant | Brine | |
| G.G.Hill Well | Salt, Natural Gas | Past Producer | ||
| (Facility) Watkins Glen Refinery | Salt | Plant | ||
| Federal Land Bank No.1 Well | Salt | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Salt Well | Salt | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Salt Well | Salt | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Salt Wells | Salt | Past Producer | ||
| Watkins Glen Well | Salt | Past Producer | ||
| Watkins Plant & Well | Salt | Plant | ||
| Watkins Salt Co.Well No.11 | Salt | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
18 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Montour Falls in 18 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 12 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $350,000 | A line of severe thunderstorms passed through the area with scattered damage on July 15. A focused microburst descended upon the northeast side of Montour Falls, heavily damaging or in many cases uprooting a grove of large trees up to 2 feet in diameter including sycamores. They fell in a divergent pattern, indicating a downburst. Many trees or large branches dropped upon several mobile homes, entrapping 3 residents, while also crushing 2 vehicles and a riding mower. On the front side of the microburst, a Department of Public Works storage building was completely blown apart with |only one wall left standing. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Montour Falls | $50,000 | 1.75 inch hail. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $20,000 | Trees were blown down on wires and houses. |
| August 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $12,000 | no account filed |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $10,000 | A few trees and wires were knocked down. Some of these trees damaged a roof in town. |
| March 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $8,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down numerous trees, mostly in the woods, but there were a couple of cars that had trees fall on them. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $6,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down multiples trees and wires on road near Lee and South Streets. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $5,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down multiple trees. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $5,000 | Several large trees were blown down. |
| July 1994 | Hail | Montour Falls | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $1,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down a tree across a road. |
| April 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $1,000 | A squall line with damaging winds knocked down a tree on hyde hill road. |
| April 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $1,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and wires in the town of Montour. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Montour Falls | $500 | Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down a tree. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Montour Falls | - | Estimated half dollar size hail via social media photo. |
| May 2012 | Hail | Montour Falls | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Montour Falls | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Montour Falls | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deckertown | 0.7 miles | 31 | |
| Wedgewood | 2.2 miles | 29 | |
| Watkins Glen | 2.7 miles | 30 | |
| Odessa | 3.1 miles | 31 | |
| Catharine | 4.0 miles | 31 | |
| Moreland | 4.3 miles | 29 | |
| Burdett | 5.0 miles | 30 | |
| Irelandville | 5.1 miles | 30 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Montour Falls | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q947730 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 974235. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.










