Montgomery

Montgomery County is a county located in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,236. Its county seat is Montgomery City. The county was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 1775 while attempting to capture Quebec City, Canada.

With a branch of Stone Hill Winery in New Florence, the county is part of the Missouri Rhineland. It is located approximately halfway between Columbia and St Louis.

The county has evidence of human habitation from thousands of years ago. An ancient site was found during archaeological excavations at Graham Cave on the Loutre River.

In the early 19th century, European settlement started at a greater pace, after exploration during previous decades by French trappers and British and American fur traders.

Although the Loutre Island area is commonly associated with the German-founded towns of Rhineland and Starkenburg, established by immigrants of the mid-19th century and later, it was originally settled by Missouri’s Anglo-southern settlers from places such as Kentucky or Virginia. Although the southern part of the county is more closely associated with Missouri’s Rhineland, its northern part is more associated with Missouri’s “Little Dixie” region, earning Montgomery county the nickname “Gateway to Little Dixie”.

An early house of worship was a log church, which is still maintained as a chapel. Martin’s Church is also located in Starkenburg, built in 1873 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Above its entrance is the text: “This is the House Of God and the Gate Of Heaven.”

Starkenburg is also the site of the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, built in the early 20th century and listed on the NRHP. Starkenburg is located inland from the Missouri River. After the destructive Great Flood of 1993, Rhineland citizens used federal funds to relocate their houses 1.5 miles (2.4 km) inland away from the river.