Historic Walking Guide
Historic Walking Guide
1 The Levee House Cafe - 127 Ohio Street
Marietta’s oldest riverfront structure, once LaBelle Hotel.
2 Bicentennial Plaza - Front & Greene Streets
Dedicated July 13, 1987 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Ordinance of 1787 and Marietta’s 200th birthday in 1988.
3 Lafayette Hotel (Built 1918) - Front & Greene Sts.
Named after Marquis de Lafayette, who visited in 1825.
3a Rufus Putnam Walk Way – Front, Butler and Harmar Streets
Commemorates landing by General Rufus Putnam, the first white settler in Marietta on April 7, 1788.
4 The Becky Thatcher - Front Street
Built in 1927 as the “Mississippi,” she was converted to a floating restaurant and brought here in 1975.
5 First Post Office Building - 100 Putnam Street
Marietta’s mail service claimed its own building in 1819. The 1806 brick building served until 1853.
6 The Lockmaster’s House - 243 Front Street
Home of the lockmaster for Marietta and Muskingum Valley towns from the 1840s to the 1940s.
7 Putnam House - 519 Fort Street
Home of David Putnam, Sr., Gen. Israel Putnam’s grandson and Muskingum Academy’s first teacher in 1800. Marietta’s first bank opened here in 1807.
8 Harmar Railroad Bridge - Connects Maple & Butler
Pedestrian bridge once used for trains 1873-1962.
9 Bosworth House (Built 1831) - 123 Maple Street
Home of Capt. Charles Bosworth, a riverboat pilot.
10 Harmar Post Office - Gilman Avenue
Original post office for Harmar from 1837 to 1890.
11 Levi Barber House - 407 Fort Street
Col. Levi Barber’s home, U.S. Congressman 1817-1823.
12 Site of Fort Harmar - Corner Fort & Market Sts.
From a pentagon-shaped federal fort built in 1785, Gen. Josiah Harmar’s 100 man garrison was to comply with a previous Indian treaty to prevent squatters from occupying land north and west of the Ohio River.
13 Fearing House (Built 1847) - 131 Gilman Ave.
Home for Henry Fearing, son of Paul Fearing, the first practicing lawyer in the Northwest Territory.
14 French Monument - Gilman Ave. & Virginia St.
A gift from France during Marietta’s Sesquicentennial in 1938 to commemorate French claims to land in 1749.
15 Alf Landon House (ca. 1900) - 223 Franklin St.
Alfred M. Landon home Ð governor of Kansas, and Republican Presidential nominee in 1936.
16 Harmar Congregational Church - 301 Franklin St.
Marietta’s oldest existing church building.
17 The Anchorage/Putnam Villa - Putnam Avenue
Douglas Putnam, great-grandson of Revolutionary War Gen. Israel Putnam, built this Italian villa in 1859.
18 Harmar Cemetery - Wood Street
Established in 1796, it is Marietta’s first cemetery.
19 Children’s Toy & Doll Museum - 206 Gilman Avenue
Collections of teddy bears, dolls, games, and beloved old toys.
20 Masonic Temple - 308 Front Street
The first Masonic Lodge chartered under American authority in 1790. The seal was suggested by Benjamin Franklin and engraved by Paul Revere.
21 First Congregational Church - 318 Front St.
Chartered 1796, Marietta’s first church.
22 Meigs House (Built 1802) - 326 Front Street
Home of Return Jonathan Meigs Jr., the first prosecuting attorney, one of three NW Territory judges, Ohio’s first postmaster, fourth governor, Ohio Supreme Court Judge, U.S. Senator and U.S. Postmaster General.
23 Buckley House (Built 1879) - 332 Front Street
Home of oil producer Jerry & Lillie Buckley 1900-1955.
24 Muskingum Park - Front Street
Includes the 1988 Bicentennial Pavilion, the 1938 Sesquicentennial ‘Start Westward’ monument by the Mt. Rushmore-famous Gutzon Borglum, a Civil War monument honoring 4,000 Washington County vets and the Veterans Memorial. Presidents F. D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt and W.H. Taft have spoken here.
25 Holden House (ca. 1852) - 408 Front Street
A Classic Greek Revival home.
26 Pratt-McGirr House (ca. 1803) - 430 Front St.
It is said that Azariah Pratt either built the house as part of the Campus Martius stockade or that Pratt salvaged hand-hewn beams from the dismantled stockade in 1796.
27 Larchmont (ca. 1824) - 524 Second Street
Built by Albigence Waldo Putnam (great-grandson of Gen. Israel Putnam) for his bride, C. Ann Sevier, daughter of the first governor of Tennessee. This Greek Revival mansion is named for two front yard larch trees.
28 The Pattin House (Built 1892) - 531 Second St.
It was purchased in 1911 by Miss Louanna Dode Pattin, daughter of Civil War Lt. Col. J.J. Pattin of Harmar.
29 Campus Martius, Museum of the Northwest Territory Second & Washington Streets Campus Martius, the original stockade built on this square, served from 1788 to 1792 as the site of the seat of government of the first U.S. territory outside of the 13 original colony-states. The fortress was the office for the Northwest Territory’s first governor, Arthur St. Clair, and was used as a site for Marietta’s first court of law.
30 Ohio Company Land Office - Campus Martius
The Land Office is the oldest existing building west of the Alleghenies. It was used by the Ohio Company for issuing deeds and maintaining land records.
31 Ohio River Museum - Front & Washington Streets
The Ohio River Museum is the Ohio Historical Society’s interpretive center for river history, especially steamboats. The museum emphasizes the history of the sole surviving stern wheel tow boat of a fleet of sternwheelers
32 W.P. Snyder, Jr. (1918) - Ohio River Museum
Tow boat during the 100-year heyday of sternwheelers.
33 Merydith House (Built 1868) - 610 Front Street
Conrad Biszantz built, Merydith family owned 1897-1963.
34 Sacra Via - 700 Block of Third Street to the river
A prehistoric sacred walled way was constructed by the Hopewell culture, predating the American Indians.
35 Camp Tupper - 3rd, 4th and Warren Streets
Named the Quadranaou Square commons in 1788 for its prehistoric plateau mound. In 1862 it was commandeered by Col. Jesse Hildebrand for use as a Civil War encampment and troop training ground for Ohio’s 77th Regiment. He named it for Major Anselm Tupper, son of Brig. Gen. Benjamin Tupper, co-organizer of the Ohio Co. and first 1788 settler.
36 Quadranaou Mound - 4th and Warren Streets
Ceremonial mound left by the Hopewell culture.
37 Capitolium Mound - Public Library, 615 5th Street Built by Hopewell Moundbuilders, ca. 900 A.D.
38 Dawes House - 508 Fourth Street
Charles Dawes, son of Civil War Capt. Rufus R. Dawes, was called in 1987 by President McKinley to be Comptroller of Currency. As chair of the Allied Reparations Commission he authored the “Dawes Plan” which raised $200 million for the allies through the sale of German-issued bonds, earning him a Nobel Peace Prize. He was Harding’s Budget Bureau director, Coolidge’s vice-president and Hoover’s ambassador to England. Marietta’s distinguished diplomat died in 1951.
39 Shipman-Mills House (ca. 1852) - 430 Fourth St.
Built by John B. Shipman, the house was purchased in 1872 by Elizabeth & John L. Mills, a Marietta College professor and founder of Elizabeth College for Women.
40 The Castle (Built 1855) - 418 Fourth Street
A Gothic Revival mansion offering guided tours.
41 St. Paul’s Church (Built 1849) - 410 Fifth Street
Marietta’s second oldest, a German Evangelical “Kirche.”
42 Cotton House (Built 1853) - 412 Fifth Street
Dr. Josiah D. Cotton home, a Civil War surgeon.
43 Mound Cemetery - 400 Fifth Street
The number of graves of officers of the Revolutionary War is said to compare with that of any other cemetery in the country. Though many local earthworks are Hopewell, the Conus Mound has Adena features.
44 House of Seven Porches (1835) - 331 Fifth Street
Greek Revival with 4 front porches and 3 in the rear.
45 George White House (Built 1855) - 322 Fifth St.
Purchased in 1908 by oilman and banker George White, who was elected Governor of Ohio in 1930.
46 Marietta College President’s - Mills House
Fifth and Putnam Streets Purchased by Col. John Mills in 1837 and occupied by the family for 100 years. Since 1939, it has been home to Marietta College presidents and their families.
47 Marietta College
From Fourth to Seventh, Putnam to Greene Street
With roots as the Muskingum Academy in 1797, and chartered in 1835, Marietta College ranks high nationally as a liberal arts college.
48 The Betsey Mills Club - 300 Fourth Street
Dedicated in 1927 as a complex to benefit girls and women of the town and college, it was named for Betsey Gates Mills, hostess for weekly gatherings of underprivileged girls.
49 Unitarian Universalist Church - Third & Putnam
A Tudor Gothic built in 1855 by Nahum Ward.
50 City Hall (Built 1937) - 301 Putnam Street
Features pioneer murals by artist William M. Young.
51 Washington County Court House - 201 Putnam St.
Construction of this building was completed in 1902.
52 St. Luke’s Episcopal Church (1856) - 320 Second St.
A Gothic Revival Church.
53 Bosworth-Biszantz House (1868) - 316 Third St.
Built by M.P. Wells of Bosworth Wells Co. and purchased by oilman Frank B. Biszantz in 1897, it is now home to the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce and the Marietta/Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
54 First Bank Building - 101 Putnam Street
Opened in 1833 for the Bank of Marietta.
55 Lookout Point - Bellevue Street
View Marietta from the premier overlook in town. From this vantage point you can see all of downtown Marietta and the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers.
56 Muskingum Academy – 1797 – Birth of Higher Education in Ohio.
In April 1797, a committee of Marietta citizens, led by Gen. Rufus Putnam, met to establish an academy suitable for preparatory instruction for their youth. Muskingum Academy, completed late that year, became the first institution of its kind in the Northwest Territory, providing “classical instruction…in the higher branches of an English education”.
57 Christ United Methodist Church – Third and Wooster Street
Methodism was brought to Marietta by Wesleyan circuit riders Robert Manley (1799) and Peter Cartwright (1806) and by German Methodist Carl Best (1839). Present building was dedicated in 1855.
58 Catherine Fay Ewing House – 360 Muskingum Drive
Catherine Fay Ewing established the first home for orphaned children in the state, and possibly the nation, in 1857. The home was moved to its present location in 1867.
59 Ohio National Guard Armory – 241 Front Street
With a mission to protect citizens at home and aboard, the Ohio National Guard was originally established as the Northwest Territory Militia in Marietta on July 25, 1788, and has fought in every war since the War of 1812. Built in 1914, this Ohio National Guard Armory served both as Regimental and Company B, 7th Infantry, O.N.G Headquarters. Later Company A 166th Infantry, 37th division occupied the dual-purpose armory. The Armory served Washington County as a departure point for soldiers leaving for service in World War I, World War II, and Korea. The Armory served the area in times of crisis and celebration, often used by the Red Cross, Marietta College and other civic groups.
60 C. William O’Neill – 333 Fourth Street
Ohio’s 59th governor, Marietta native C. William O’Neill was the only Ohioan to head all three branches of state government.
61 Shipbuilding – Commodore Abraham Whipple – Ohio River Levee
One of the first industries in Marietta was shipbuilding. The first vessel built was in 110-ton brig St.Clair, captained by Commodore Abraham Whipple. Whipple was a noted Revolutionary War naval officer who escaped the British blockade in 1778 to carry important dispatches to France.
62 Colony Theatre – 222 ½ Putnam Street
This original vaudeville house was built on May 18, 1911, and had a seating capacity of 657. The theatre was a destination for traveling live acts, plays, magic lantern projections and later silent moving pictures which were accompanied by live music.
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