09/12/2026
Our little river community counts so much now—to the future of our nation—for the same reasons it always has.
And unassuming little Washington County? Oh, how she’s underestimated.
Such an important role in the national conversation, without many people even noticing.
Ohio was always extremely valuable because of what runs through it, what lives in it, and what comes from it. In the 1700s, France and Britain fought over control of the world for seven years—that is to say, they fought over Ohio.
Water moved people, trade, and perhaps most importantly—power.
Having Ohio, for entire nations, was like being the one kid in the neighborhood with a trampoline at their house. A super big deal. No one’s mean to the trampoline kid.
Marietta was founded at the mouth of the Muskingum because a crossing is an immensely powerful thing. That crossing is still here.
Look at what is now on the ground in Waterford. A large gas plant. High-voltage lines. A demolished generation site with 138- and 345-kilovolt substations on the property. Process water from the Muskingum. Rail. Three major pipelines close enough that the site gets advertised for them.
Washington County already makes an amount of electricity most Ohio counties never will.
That is why a hyperscale data center project is happy to aim here. Because the computing needs water, power, land, industry-agreeable people, and a way to move energy. This place has had those things for a very, very long time.
The only thing up in the air, this time, has been whether Washington County residents let it happen without a say or a net or a plan. Whether our leaders will step up and do their job with the businessmen — to serve their community and be a good steward of the land, the rivers, and their people.
And those who thought they knew best for Washington County, long before us regular people knew about any of it, made sure to work the deal behind the scenes. They carried it so far covertly, over years, that by the time the people found out, they knew what they’d say: “It’s too late. It’s a done deal. Private land. No one can stop it.”
To Waterford township though, the cost is high. Farms. Neighbors. Families. Centuries of legacy. A farming township of everyday people, trying to understand a project that needs the same river and the same grid they’ve always known — in a totally different way than older industries did.
These are people of the land. They are used to the grid and the river and the weather and the ground underneath. They are not used to sneaky business deals.
Entire nations wanted this ground in the 1700s because it connected water to water, and water to the interior. It’s sought after now because it still connects water to power—and power to a market that cannot live without either one.
Same rivers. Same reason the land keeps getting claimed. Some come to live. Some come to take. The difference is not always obvious at first.
We live at the meeting of these rivers, and I have seen what happens when we forget why we were founded here in the first place. The water did not stop mattering. The power did not stop mattering. And the people? Well, neither did we. We just can’t forget to remember. Because we lose our power when we don’t know it.
Everyone needs to vote small elections. Vote like you’ve never voted before. These are not baby fish here, in our so-called small pond. They are fish so massive that they could feed (or starve) the future of our entire civilization.
You might say, well Holly, that’s crazy talk. And you’d be right. I am absolutely a crazy person. Crazy enough to hope that a bunch of regular people in this fractured society can choose vigilance over comfort, individuality over uniformity, family over state, responsibility over vice, and sacrifice over self-prioritization.
So you can call me crazy, but I’m hoping for a sometimes or a maybe or a miracle scenario here.
This isn’t your everyday election. Your vote matters more than ever. To this valley. To our children. To America.
Do your homework. Don’t borrow notes. Don’t care who agrees.
See for yourself. Hear for yourself. Think for yourself. Then choose for yourself. If enough of us do that, it may be the best thing to ever happen to Washington County.

Written by Holly Kellums
