According to local tradition, the name of the town that grew up around the former Bailey Farm was first identified as "Riverside". As it grew with the coming of first local coal mines and then railway lines, it was decided to place a local post office in the town "circa" 1910. It was then discovered that there was already a town in the state having a post office with the Riverside name and it was necessary to choose a new name. Undocumented tradition states that a group of local schoolchildren, when asked to help select a new town name, selected "Montcalm" as they had just completed their study of the French and Indian War, wherein Louis-Joseph de Montcalm had been the commander of the French forces in North America, and they liked the name.