Ohio Land Company Office
On the Ohio at the mouth of the
Muskingum lies Marietta, first settle¬
ment in the Northwest Territory, and
oldest city in Ohio.
Early in 1787 a group of New Eng-
landers led by Rev. Manasseh Cutler
of Massachusetts and Gen. Rufus Put¬
nam, a member of Washington's staff,
organized the Ohio Company to found
a settlement in the wilderness beyond
the mountains.
After agreeing to purchase 1,500,000
acres of land in what is now South¬
eastern Ohio, the Company planned the
long overland trek to their new domain.
The final stage of the journey was made
by flatboat down the Ohio River. On
April 7, 1788, the b and of 48 men under
Rufus Putnam landed at the mouth of the
Muskingum. By the end of 1788 addi¬
tional pioneers, including some women
and children, swelled the population
to approximately 200.
The site chosen was the fertile
flood plain at the meeting of the riv¬
ers which bore the melodious Indian
names of Ohio (or Oyo , meaning "beauti¬
ful river" - la Belle Riviere of the
French) and Muskingum (or Mooskingung)
meaning "elk ' s eye," referring to vast
herds of elk, or moos in the Dela¬
ware language, which roamed its broad
valley.
Betsy Mills Club
During its 150 years Marietta has
become an attractive city of shaded
streets and well-kept homes, typical
of the New England towns from which
its founders emigrated. Surrounded
by a prosperous rural environment,
and county seat of one of the State's
largest counties, Marietta does not
live alone in the glory of her past.
Some of its manufactured products
are famous: furniture, paints and wood
finishes, steel safes and cabinets,
grindstones,venilating devices, high¬
speed lubricating oils, gasoline, and
harness.
Trainloads of garden truck, grown in
the rich river bottoms nearby, are
awaited every year in the leading mar¬
kets of the East and North. Fifteen
hundred carloads of cabbage, tomatoes,
cucumbers, and sweet corn bring a gross
income of more than $1,000,000 to the
local growers.
Marietta is one of the three leading
sources of the grindstone supply in the
United States. Quarried from sand¬
stone ledges located nearby, the stone
is cut, milled, tested, and graded at
the factories, and sold to the tool-
making industry in all parts of the
nation. Research work, improving pro¬
duction methods, has given Marietta
national importance in this industry.
The city boasts the only college
rowing crew in the State. The annual
Mid-America race is held on the Mus¬
kingum, crews from many large uni¬
versities competing. The unique col¬
lege boathouse is constructed of huge
grindstones from the local quarries.
Well-marked streets and artistic
plaques are invaluable aids to the
thousands of visitors who come not
only from neighboring States, but from
foreign countries as well. The princi¬
pal streets were named in honor of
Revolutionary War generals.
Among the prominent structures in
Marietta reflecting the New England
colonial style are the Mills Home,
the Meigs Home built in 1812, and the
Hildreth Home built in 1822- Science
Hall, oldest structure at Marietta
College,represents the finest Georgian
colonial architecture in the city.
Marietta has been the home of many
prominent Americans. Among them have
been three Ohio governors, Return
Jonathan Meigs, John Brough, and George
White; Albert B. White, Governor of
West Virginia; Alf. M. Landon,Governor
of Kansas; Charles G. Dawes, former
Vice President of the United States;
Francis MacMillan, famous violinist;
and "Ban" Johnson, founder and presi¬
dent of the American League.
Prehistoric Mound
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY CELEBRATION
During 1937-38, six States - Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois,Michigan,Wiseonsin,
and Minnesota - will participate in a
mammoth celebration commemorating the
settlement of the Northwest Territory
150 years ago.
Re-enacting the first pioneer trip
to Marietta, an ox-drawn covered-war'on
caravan will start from Ipswich,Massa¬
chusetts, December 3,1937, and travel
over the original trail, arriving
at Marietta on April 7, the date on
which the pioneers landed. Historical
pageants will be given en route, in
cooperation with community organiza¬
tions and local officials. This will
be followed by a similar trip through
other States of the old Northwest
Territory, leading to a number of
additional celebrations in other com-
munities.
Special features of the Northwest
Territory Celebration will include:
a text-book for school use entitled
History of the Northwest Territory,
A Text-Book for Supplemental Reading;
a novel depicting the settlement of
the Territory; a half-million dollar
motion picture presenting the story of
the founding of the Territory; carto¬
graphic maps for school use, prepared
by the W.P.A. Federal Art Project,
which will also aid in erecting the
pioneer memorial, to be executed in
native stone under the direction of
Gutzon Borglum; essay contests for
school children; and a $1,000 prize
contest for the best manuscript on
the history and development of the
Northwest Territory. Detailed plans
wi11 be announced by the Federal Com¬
mission at Marietta and by the State
Commission at Columbus.
I most heartily endorse the. proposal that
the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary oj
the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787 and of
the settlement of the northwest be celebrated
by the joint observance of the federal Govern¬
ment and. of the various states concerned.
Rich in the possession of the Declaration
of Independence and of the Constitution those
documents which established and gave form to
our national Government, we, as a people, have
perhaps been less informed with, respect to
that third 'reat charter - the northwest Ordi¬
nance. I trust that this forthcoming anniver¬
sary will oe seized as the opportune occasion
to instill in American minds and hearts the
cherished appreciation of the rank and honor
that is the rightful due of the 'Great Ordi¬
nance. »
The principles therein embodied served as
the highway, broad and safe, over which poured
the westward march of our civilization. As
the constitution provided the federal frame, so
the 'Great Ordinance» provided for the States
to be born of your region, not only the basis
of civil government, but a perpetual security
of elemental rights. On this plan was the
United States built; on the plan of this Ordi¬
nance we have, state by state, filled in the
geographic frame of our domain; and from it
we nave had no occasion to depart.
I hope to see the most helpful cooperation
both on the part of the federal Government and
of your historic states in the commemoration of
an event so full of meaning to both our past
development and to the principles of freedom
and progress for which we must stand.
o+/s
AM E K1V AM UUIDB SSKIKS
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY CELEBRATION
COMMISSION: President Roosevelt;
George White, Chairman; E.M. Hawes,
Exec.Director;Senators Vandenburg and
Van Nuys; Congressmen Jenkins and Se-
crest; Gov. McNutt, Miss Bonnie Far-
well, Ind; Mrs.Carl Thayer,Minn; Mrs.
Samuel J.Campbell, 111; Mrs. John S.
Heaume, Ohio; Mrs. George D.Schermer-
horn, Mich; Rev.Joseph E. Hanz, Mrs.
George B. Averiil, V/is.
Prepared by: {federal Writers ' Pro j ect
WORKS PR0GREST11DMINISTRATI0N IN OHIO
PIONEER SETTLEMENT
IN THE
NORTHWEST TERRITORY
"No colony in America was ever settled
under such favorable auspices as that
which has just commenced on the banks
of the Muskingum.... I know many of the
settlers Personally, and there never
were men better calculated to promote
the welfare of such a community. *
—George Washington
POINTS OP1 INTEREST
1. Marker indicating the landing place
of Rufus Putnam and the 48 pioneers of
/
the Ohio Land Company oh Apr i 1 7 , 1788-
2. Masonic Temple housing the oldest
Masonic organization west of the Al-
leghenies.
3. First Congregational Church. This
edifice is on the site of the famous
"Old Two Horn" so named because of its
twin towers and spires which for years
dominated the Marietta skyline.
4. Marker indicating where Gen.Arthur
St.Clair was inaugurated first govern¬
or of the Northwest Territory, July 15,
1788-
5. Return Jonathan Meigs Home,built in
1806. Meigs was successively Governor
of Ohio, U.S. Senator and Postmaster-
General of the United States.
6. Marker indicating where the first
families landed in Marietta, August
19, 1788-
7. Ohio Land Company Office, oldest
building in the Northwest Territory.
8- Stockade marker indicating the
southwest corner of Campus Martius,
log fortification erected as a pro¬
tection against Indian raids.
9. Campus Martius Museum, containing
numerous historical relics, as well as
the completely-restored Rufus Putnam
House.
10* Sacra Via, section of the earth¬
works erected by Mound Builders.
11. Quadranaou, a mound used by Mound
Builders for ceremonial rites.
12* Rathbone Elm, which is said to be
the largest elm in the United States.
13. Washington County Chi ldren 's Home,
first tax-supported institut ion of its
kind in the United States.
14. Boyhood home of Charles G. Dawes.
15- Mound Cemetery, burial place of 24
Revolutionary soldiers and numerous
Marietta pioneers whose contributions
to the life of the State and the Nation
are outstanding.
16- Conus Mound, a symmetrical earthen
structure surrounded by a dry moat,and
thought to be the burial place of a
prehistoric chief.
17. Marietta College,founded in 1835,
an outgrowth of the Muskingum Academy
(1796), the first classical school in
the Northwest Territory. The college
library contains one of the best col¬
lections of Americana in the country,
as well as original documents of the
Ohio Land Company.
18. Betsy Mills Club, a beautiful
colonial-type structure which serves
as the center for women's civic activi¬
ties in Marietta.
19• Ban Johnson Field House of Marietta
College, athletic plant named in honor
of Bancroft Johnson, alumnus of the
college who contributed liberally
toward its erection.
20- Marietta Stadium.
21. The Anchorage, cut-stone mansion
built in 1850.
22« Site of Fort Harmar, built in 1785
after the location had been chosen by
George Washington.lt became the earli¬
est settlement in the northwest.
23- Lookout Point, overlooking Mari¬
etta and Muskingum and Ohio valleys.
24 • Mar iet t a Col lege Boat house, unique
structure built chiefly of grindstones.
tered about the "Point, " the name given
to the neck of land at the mouth of
the Muskingum River.
The site of the fort is now occupied
by the Campus Martius Museum under the 1
control of the Ohio state Archaeo-:
logical and Historical Society. In the
modern structure are housed notable 1
historical displays and the completely
restored Rufus Putnam House, which
contains furniture and equipment of 1
the late 18th and early 19th century
period.
The pioneers found evidence that an
earlier civilization had prospered on
the site of Marietta. A complete sys¬
tem of mounds leading from the banks
of the Muskingum to the east repre¬
sented what is supposed to have been
ceremonial grounds where pagan reli¬
gious festivals were observed. Still
in evidence is the Sacra Via, or
Sacred Way, an earthen causeway of
parallel ridges which may have been
roofed over to form a huge room for
the rituals. Most of the mounds have
been leveled to make way for the build¬
ing of homes in modern Marietta. Still
visible, however, are the Quadranaou,
188 feet long, 132 feet wide, and 10
feet high, and the Capitolium. Upon
the latter mound stands the Public
Lib rary.
Campus View - Marietta College
Marietta College Boathouse
In Mound Cemetery is the symmetrical
Conus Mound, assumed to be the burial
place of a prehistoric chief. In the
cemetery lie the remains of 24 Revolu¬
tionary War veterans.
The pioneers established a school
shortly after the more urgent needs of
the new settlement had been satisfied.
Prom this school developed Muskingum
Academy, and finally, in 1835,Marietta
College, now one of the outstanding
institutions in the Middle West.
Early in the last century. ship¬
building was a prominent industry in
Marietta. Commodore Whipple, founder
of the American Navy, built the first
ships, which were sent down the Ohio
and Mississippi Rivers to sail through¬
out the world. One of these ships,
1 aden with wheat, sailed direct ly from
Marietta to Ireland to aid the starv¬
ing populace of that famine-stricken
country. Boats to equip the ill-
starred Aaron Burr expedition were
built on the Muskingum a short dis¬
tance north of the village.
Near the turn of the century the de¬
velopment of a rich oil field in the
immediate vicinity laid the foundation
for an era of prosperity, the results
of which can be seen in Marietta today.
Some of the wells of the "boom" period
are still producing.
The name chosen originally was adei-
phia, meaning "brethren." Later it
-as changed to Marietta, after Marie
Antoinette, ill-fated Queen of Prance
who sympathized with the colonists in
the American Revolution.
The site of Marietta was strategi¬
cally situated. Port Harmar, on the
opposite side of the Muskingum, was
well garrisoned and soon other forts
were constructed, notably Parmer's
Castle at Belpre and Fort Prye at
Waterford, on the Muskingum. With
such forts protecting against Indian
attacks, Marietta grew into a town and
prospered.
A huge log structure, Campus Martius,
was erected, and its sturdy block¬
houses were capable of resisting even
the most savage Indian attacks. Here
dwelt Putnam, Gov.Arthur St.Clair of
the Northwest Territory, and other of¬
ficials, and here was the center of the
community's life for 10 years. During
the Indian War nearly 300 residents
sought refuge within its sheltering
walls. A contemporary writer referred
to it as "...the strongest fortifica¬
tion in the territory of the United
States." With the cessation of war¬
fare after the Greenville Treaty of
1795, however, it was abandoned. The
life of the little community now cen-
Campus Martius Museum