About the City
Welcome to Montpelier
The City of Montpelier is a city in Bear Lake County, Idaho, located in the southeastern corner of the State of Idaho. Montpelier is the largest community in the Bear Lake Valley. The primary occupation in the valley is agriculture.
Montpelier was first known as Clover Creek. A couple of years later the name changed to Belmont. Brigham Young, then President of the Mormon Church, changed the name to Montpelier after a town in his birth state of Vermont when he dispatched a large group of Mormon pioneers to settle the area.
Butch Cassidy and members of his gang held up the local bank in 1896, an event which is commemorated by a plaque on Washington Street and an annual local celebration takes its name from that event.
Montpelier was a popular resting place on the Oregon Trail. The railroad came through Montpelier in 1892. United States highways US-30 and US-89 intersect in Montpelier.
Located on the northern shore of Bear Lake, Montpelier is a popular destination for vacationers, fishermen, hunters, outdoor enthusiasts and winter sports enthusiasts. US-89 goes north into Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the southern gateway into the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
Montpelier City Hall
Downtown Montpelier
Washington Street
(Photographs courtesy of the Montpelier Sharp Shooters, a local camera club)