took a panoramic photograph of the 70 students in St Patrick's confirmation class Search Results: "iowa--monti" - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress). However, years of rural migration gradually shrank the area's population, emptying Monti and its nearby sister communities; the town's population began to dwindle. The CAN Railway was sold for scrap after World War I. The remains of the railroad grade can still be seen today at the north edge of the hamlet. By 1917, Monti's population had dropped to 17. During the early-to-mid-20th Century, Monti attracted some attention from the ornithology community. Noted ornithologist Fred J. Pierce reported that a large tract of timber 1 mile (2 km) "southeast of the village of Monti, in the southeastern corner of the county" was a particularly good area for birdwatching. In a 1930 paper, Pierce noted the unusual (for the area) birds he had spotted between 1923 and 1928. Among these were one specimen each of the ruffed grouse (1923), cerulean warbler (1927), and in 1928 a yellow-bellied flycatcher and a Connecticut warbler. As late as 1945, the Monti woods were home to at least 62 species of bird; the area was used as one of fourteen birding stations in the state. The woods contained the largest confirmed populations of gray-cheeked thrushes, bobolinks, eastern vesper sparrows, eastern field sparrows, and ruby-crowned kinglets in the state during the Spring of 1945. (These same woods were the scene of a gruesome hanging of an unidentified man in July 1900). In December 1933, St. Patrick's Church was burgled; the thieves made off with $12.00 in church donations. Monti's population was 15 in 1940. In 1947 five small rural school districts -- Riley's, St. Mary's, Pleasant Valley, Middlefield #7, and Dewey -- merged to form the Monti Elementary School District, which opened in September 1947. Classes were originally held at Monti Hall until the new school building opened in 1948. Monti Hall remained an important gathering place in the community during the mid to late 20th century, with 4H gatherings, community events, and dances held at the hall. In 1966, the Monti Consolidated School District was disbanded. The northern portions of the district went to East Buchanan Community School District, while the southern areas were ceded to North Linn Community School District. In 1998, RAGBRAI, a massive cross-state bicycle ride across the state, passed through the hamlet. In 2005, St Patrick's