Montfort, WI

Montfort is a village divided between Grant and Iowa counties in southwestern Wisconsin. The 2020 census counted 705 residents—633 in Grant County and 72 in Iowa County—so the county line runs through the village's everyday geography. The site was platted on April 3, 1848, by Ben C. Eastman and Francis J. Dunn and was named for an old fort on a nearby hill. Montfort remained unincorporated until 1893, then grew after the railroad reached the village in 1879.

That split gives Montfort two regional connections: the Grant County side falls within the Platteville micropolitan area, while the Iowa County side is part of the Madison metropolitan area. The village still has one municipal government, one street grid, and one local name, even though county and statistical boundaries divide the map. Montfort also has a food-making claim of its own through Montforte Blue Cheese, produced by the Wisconsin Farmers Union Specialty Cheese Company. The result is a small railroad-era village whose old fort name, county line, and blue cheese plant give it a surprisingly layered local profile.