Montgomery County celebrated its 207th anniversary in 2025 by having two proposed data centers, having a softball team making history, having highway signs named after four Vietnam soldiers, having one of its residents getting a job with the FBI and having a new playground in Rhineland.

The county also had many accomplishments from the athletic teams at Montgomery County and Wellsville-Middletown high schools.

Here are the top Montgomery County stories for 2025:

Data centers to move into Montgomery County

Plans were made to have data center projects in Montgomery County as the Montgomery County Commission in November signed off on land-use approvals for two large data center developments near the I-70 and Highway 19 interchange. 

One of the projects is Project Green, which is by North Point Development, LLC., a real estate company in Kansas City, and would cover about 1,000 acres. The other is Project Spade, which is by a New York-based company called Spade Property, and would cover almost 800 acres.

On Dec. 18, the Commission unanimously approved a tax abatement agreement between the county and Amazon Web Services, which is involved with one of the two proposed data centers.

The projects are expected to bring billions of dollars in private investment, new infrastructure, job growth and property tax revenue to the county.

But there was concern by county residents that the projects could have an impact on environmental and public health, as well as water and energy consumption.

A town hall meeting was held on Dec. 8 at Montgomery City Elementary School to discuss the data centers. A tax abatement meeting was held on Dec. 18 at the Montgomery County Courthouse.

MCHS softball places fourth at state

The Montgomery County softball team enjoyed a memorable 2025 season. The Wildcats finished with a school-record 28 wins, captured Eastern Missouri Conference and district championships and placed fourth in the Class 2 state tournament. It was the first time in program history that MCHS placed at state.

The Wildcats qualified for the Class 2 Final Four with a 7-5 victory over Chaffee in a state quarterfinal game. Senior Dylan Topel hit a walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to lead MCHS to the come-from-behind victory.

The Wildcats had a strong group that included Topel, all-state performers Reese Hill and Anna Klekamp, Samantha Turner, Jillian Weekley and Gracie Cobb.

MCHS shared the EMO title with Elsberry and North Callaway at 9-1, the program’s first conference championship. The Wildcats defeated Elsberry in the district finals to win their second district crown.

More highway signs constructed to honor fallen soldiers

Montgomery County had four new highway signs that were built and were named after fallen soldiers who were killed in the Vietnam War. They were Bryon Brown, Richard Rutherford, Keo Keshner and Steven Bezold. 

The signs were built along Highway 161 south of Middletown, Highway A west of Middletown, Highway F outside of Bellflower and Highway 19 north of Hermann. There are now five highway signs in the county that are named after residents who died in Vietnam. In November 2024, the Sgt. Norbert Overkamp, Jr. Memorial Highway signs were constructed on Highway 19 in Montgomery City.

Rhineland’s Bailey gets new job

Rhineland resident Andrew Bailey became the co-deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in August after working as Missouri attorney general for three years.

Bailey was appointed attorney general in 2022 after Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate. Schmitt got the job in 2018, replacing another Republican who won a Senate seat, Josh Hawley.

Rhineland gets new playground

The Village of Rhineland opened a new playground at Stiers Memorial Park on May 10. The playground was part of the $250,000 project that included a new pavilion, sidewalks to accessible parking, storm water drainage and safety fencing along Highway 94. 

Rhineland received a $101,260 grant from the National Park Service through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in 2021 to make improvements on the park.

County sports highlights

A total of 10 county athletes earned all-state honors in their respective sports this year. They were Elly Cash (Wellsville-Middletown, track), Colby Ellis (Montgomery County, football), Tyler Erwin (Montgomery County, track), Cooper Henderson (Wellsville-Middletown, track), Reese Hill (Montgomery County, softball), Anna Klekamp (Montgomery County, softball), Gage Marshall (Wellsville-Middletown, track), Lafe McCurdy (Montgomery County, football), Emma Rodgers (Montgomery County, track) and Sam Turner (Montgomery County, track).

MCHS won team conference titles in boys basketball, softball, girls track and golf. The Wildcats won district titles in football and softball.