Editing Monticello, Missouri (section)

===Post-bellum===
Times were difficult for Monticello in the years following the Civil War. Two railroads built through the county, in 1871 and 1872 respectively, bypassed Monticello for reasons that still remain unclear considering its status as county seat. Rail lines fostered better trade and allowed for towns such as Durham, Ewing, La Belle, and Lewistown to thrive and outgrow Monticello.<ref name=NRHP/> In 1875, the need for a new county courthouse gave rival towns the chance to try and steal the county seat designation away from Monticello. In both newspaper articles and public meetings, residents of [[Canton, Missouri|Canton]], [[La Grange, Missouri|La Grange]], and Lewistown all attempted to sway the county government. Lewistown citizens pledged up to $25,000 to build a new courthouse at no cost to the county, while La Grange offered to match or better that offer. Canton meanwhile, the county's biggest and most prosperous city, topped both with a pledge of $40,000 to establish the county government there.<ref name=NRHP/> However, the efforts of all three towns were in vain and no real challenge to Monticello as the county seat would happen again despite its dwindling population.

By 1878, the Monticello business district included the following: The Lindell Hotel at the corner of Perry and Lafayette streets, the Monticello Savings Bank and United States Post Office on Lafayette across from the courthouse, the Southern Hotel, the Monticello House (a boarding/hostel house), the schoolhouse, two churches, a weekly newspaper, the ''Monticello Journal'' and the Monticello Seminary. The latter was established by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1872 but closed by 1887.<ref name=NRHP/> The population of Monticello was estimated at 350 by the late 1890s.<ref name=Directory/>

The town's development and population remained mostly stable through much of the 20th century; however, the farm crisis of the 1980s and the lure of better opportunities for the community's young in larger cities led to a steep decline in the last two decades of the century. By the 2000 United States Census, the population was only 126 residents.<ref name=NRHP/> There are still a handful of businesses operating in Monticello owing to its county seat designation. Notable among them are a bank and the Missouri Department of Revenue license bureau. Children in the Monticello area now attend school at Lewis County C-1, a.k.a. Highland school district, near [[Ewing, Missouri|Ewing]].