Local events in Montezuma
Nothing is posted for Montezuma itself yet; here is what is on within 10 miles. All local events in Montezuma
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Checked October 20; the events page is refreshed daily.
How Montezuma began
Montezuma sits on the south shore of Grand Lake St. Marys, in the northwest corner of Franklin Township. It was laid out in 1835, with the plat recorded on March 12, two years before the canal reservoir that became the lake was begun, and a post office opened in 1840. The 1907 county history describes a village of mills, a distillery, a round-log school called the Wolves' Den, and United Brethren, Methodist and Church of Christ congregations; it was incorporated in 1894 with William A. Lacey as its first mayor. Its name is that of the Aztec emperor Montezuma. The village reached 299 people in 1950 and had 152 in 2020.
Settled 1835, platted 1835 (plat recorded March 12), incorporated 1894, by unrecorded founder.
Where the name comes from
Named for Montezuma, the Aztec emperor; no source here explains why this Mercer County village was given that name.
Before the town
No Native village, trail or treaty site specific to Montezuma is recorded here. The village's namesake, the Aztec emperor Montezuma, has no documented connection to Ohio or to any nation historically present in Mercer County, so the name is not a record of local Native history.
Timeline
- — Montezuma is laid out and platted.
- — Grand Lake St. Marys is dug as a canal reservoir; Montezuma, platted before construction began, ends up on the lake's southern shore.
- — A post office begins operating at Montezuma.
- — The Montezuma class of the United Brethren Church is organized by Rev. R. Gillen; services are held in members' homes until a first church is built about 1862.
- — The United Brethren church at Montezuma is built for about $2,000 and dedicated by Bishop Weaver in June.
- — A new frame Methodist Episcopal church, revived in 1880 by Rev. Lyman E. Prentiss of Celina, is dedicated on May 7.
- — The population is 210.
- — Montezuma incorporates as a village.
- — The Montezuma Special School District is organized in September; the village school, built as a one-story frame building, is remodeled with a second story.
- — The census counts 317 residents.
- — The census counts 299 residents, the highest on record.
- — The census counts 152 residents.
Stories
A village that predates its own lake
Montezuma was laid out in 1835, two years before the state began digging the Grand Reservoir, a feeder lake for the Miami Extension Canal. Sutton's 1882 history says the reservoir was begun in 1837 and finished in 1845 at a cost of $600,000, and that at nine miles long, three to five wide and about 17,600 acres it was the largest artificial lake on the globe. The village found itself on its south shore. The rising water drowned farms along the banks, and on May 15, 1843, more than a hundred angry Mercer County citizens with shovels and wheelbarrows cut the west bank to force the state to pay for the land; thirty-four leaders, among them nearly all the county officers, were arrested, but the grand jury refused to indict. Montezuma was incorporated as a village in 1894.
The school called the Wolves' Den
The first schooling near Montezuma, the 1907 county history says, was in an old round-log building half a mile south of the village that the inhabitants called the Wolves' Den. The first school erected in the village itself stood in the south part of town and measured twelve by fourteen feet; it was a frame structure with crude seats and desks. As the school grew, two more one-story frame buildings were put up and outlived their usefulness, and the present frame schoolhouse began with two rooms. In 1895, the year the Montezuma Special School District was organized, it was remodeled and a second story added, giving four rooms and four teachers. By then the village, which was incorporated in 1894, had a sawmill, a blacksmith, two general stores, a grocery, a doctor and a barber.
Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org
Water
No water-system data is linked to Montezuma's ZIP codes yet.
Its ZIP codes
Each ZIP code that touches Montezuma, with the share of its residents who live here and the same headline figures as the ZIP page.
| ZIP | Share | Water | Radon | Home value | Schools | Flood |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45866 Montezuma | 100% | Mostly private wells | Too few radon tests | Median year built 1947 | Celina City · 3.5 stars overall | 22% of residents in the 1% floodplain |
Local government
Who holds office in Montezuma, how its elections and ballot issues came out, and the state auditor's record.
Ballot issues
| Date | Issue | For | Against | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-11-05 | Issue: Proposed Assessment Village of Montezuma (Renewal) | 60 | 28 | Passed (68.18% for) |
Auditor of State record
- Fiscal watch: declared 2000-04-24, released 2002-04-10. source
- Basic Audit, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-09-10
- Basic Audit, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-09-03
The county
Mercer County: 10 ZIP codes, 23 cities, villages and townships, 42,566 people.
Nearby places
No nearby place shares a ZIP code with Montezuma in the atlas yet.
Rain and snow
How much has actually fallen on Montezuma, day by day, from 1893 to now. Daily totals, not averages.
- rain, last 30 days
- 0.81 in
- 2026-09-30 to 2026-10-29
- rain so far in 2026
- 41.8 in
- 7.7 in above normal for the date
- snow so far in 2026
- 17.4 in
- a normal year brings 25.3 in
- a normal year
- 40.0 in
- average of 30 years, 1991-2020
| Month | Rain (in) | Snow (in) | Days counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 0.81 | — | 29 |
| September 2026 | 7.47 | — | 30 |
| August 2026 | 9.82 | — | 31 |
| July 2026 | 2.92 | — | 31 |
| June 2026 | 4.26 | — | 30 |
| May 2026 | 4.73 | — | 31 |
| April 2026 | 5.13 | — | 30 |
| March 2026 | 4.73 | 1.0 | 31 |
| February 2026 | 0.89 | 5.2 | 28 |
| January 2026 | 1.06 | 11.2 | 31 |
| December 2025 | 1.74 | 8.6 | 31 |
| November 2025 | 1.51 | 4.4 | 30 |
| Wettest year | 2003 — 56.8 in |
|---|---|
| Driest year | 1963 — 23.2 in |
| Snowiest year | 2014 — 53.9 in |
| Wettest day on record | 13 July 1992 — 5.04 in |
| Heaviest snowfall in a day | 26 November 1950 — 13.16 in |
| Deepest snow on the ground | 6 February 1978 — 25.64 in |
Estimated, not measured. No rain gauge has ever stood inside Montezuma, so every figure here is worked out from the gauges around it - the nearest ones weighted most. Treat them as close estimates rather than readings.
48,519 days of records, 1893-01-01 to 2026-10-29. Source: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily, 3,240 gauges in and around Ohio. A day is "gauged" when a gauge standing inside the boundary reported it, and the value is the mean of those gauges. Otherwise it is interpolated by inverse distance from every gauge reporting within 50 miles. Nothing is carried forward, back-filled or smoothed. Against NOAA nClimDiv county monthly precipitation over 136,848 complete county-months (checked 2026-10-31): correlation 0.9515, median absolute difference 0.217 in a month. Built 2026-10-31 from the Cracked Buckeye precipitation archive. Snow is the softer number — snowfall is measured by hand with a ruler, no agency publishes a gridded county snowfall series, and blowing snow defeats every observer.
Quick answers
What county is Montezuma, Ohio in?
Montezuma is a village in Mercer County, Ohio, with 152 residents.
When was Montezuma, Ohio founded?
Montezuma was settled 1835; laid out 1835 (plat recorded March 12); incorporated 1894. Founders on record: unrecorded founder. Source
How did Montezuma, Ohio get its name?
Named for Montezuma, the Aztec emperor; no source here explains why this Mercer County village was given that name. Source
What ZIP code is Montezuma, Ohio?
Most of Montezuma is in ZIP code 45866.
Where does Montezuma, Ohio get its water?
The main water source for Montezuma: Mostly private wells.
Cite this page
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Montezuma, Mercer County", https://crackedbuckeye.com/place/montezuma/, built 2026-10-31, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-10-31
