The first English settlement of what is now Montague was in 1726 at present-day Montague Center. In 1753 residents petitioned for incorporation of a town. The petition was granted and the town was named after Captain William Montague, commander of the “Mermaid” at the capture of Louisburg in 1745. Montague has five villages: Montague Center, Millers Falls, Lake Pleasant, Montague City, and Turners Falls. Millers Falls was initially known as Grout’s Corner. It was established as an agricultural community by Martin Grout (1790-1865) in 1824. The village’s location at the juncture of major railroads and its abundant waterpower made it an ideal site for mills, and in 1868 the Millers Falls Manufacturing Company (later Millers Falls Tools) was established there. The village of Lake Pleasant was a popular spiritualist retreat and campground in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, until a fire in 1907 destroyed many buildings. The lake has since become a public water supply. Montague City, in the western part of town, was settled by German immigrants in 1792. In 1798 the Proprietors of the Upper Locks and Canals constructed a series of locks to facilitate navigation of the Connecticut River from Hartford, Connecticut, to Vermont, and until the advent of steam locomotives the village prospered. In 1885 it became famous as the home of Montague Rod and Reel, producers of world famous split bamboo fishing rods. Turners Falls, the largest of the five villages, was founded in 1868 by Alvah Crocker (1801-1874) as a planned industrial community. The cheap waterpower furnished by the “power” canal attracted a number of industries to Turners Falls, including the John Russell Cutlery Works. Montague’s economy was badly hurt by the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression (1929-1940), though it revived somewhat during the 1950s.