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 Captain D. L. Wood’s world had been turned upside down. In July, 1863 he had a Civil War desk job as a mustering officer at Camp Marietta (also called "Camp Putnam"). Suddenly he was leading two companies of mostly untrained militia to fortify a river crossing ("ford") at Buffington Island, 40 miles down river. Why?     Marietta has been […]

      Read all about it here, on a single, easy-to-read page - a map full of history facts and features of our "City Beautiful." The web link suggests the map image may have been a postcard. I found this by accident; sometimes history research works that way.  CLICK TO ENLARGE.                  Image […]

This is an Underground Railroad map of Washington County, Ohio, from historian Henry Burke.  https://henryburke1010.tripod.com/id14.htmlCLICK TO ENLARGE

    There was a guy from Marietta in the Capitol Rotunda at President Trump's inaugural. You did not hear or see him in the mainstream or social media. He did not speak, but was likely listening and watching. Who was this man? Rufus Putnam, our founder. He stands watch over the proceedings in the Capitol Rotunda, along with other Revolutionary […]

     Mariettan Ross Thomas showed me an old apothecary bottle and said, "See what you can find out about it." The quart-size glass bottle has a cork and a label: "Wm H. Styer, Prescription Druggist, 240 Front Street, Marietta, Ohio."  The label included space for the name of doctor and prescription number.Photo of Styer bottle by author. […]

 This is an abbreviated version for newspaper of an earlier post titled “Man Overboard on the Steamboat Carrie Brooks.” To see the entire article, click here.     The steamboat CARRIE BROOKS chugged along down the icy Muskingum River one frigid winter day in the 1870's. Engineer Cliff Crane was on duty in the engine room. Near […]

      This is an abbreviated version for newspaper of an earlier post, “The Royal Visitors,” about Prince Louis Philippe of France’s visit to the Marietta area.. To read the full version, click here.     In July 1839, King Louis Philippe I of France received an American visitor, a Mr. Hughes, the American charge d’affaires in […]

 Life in early Marietta was difficult: few amenities, flooding, epidemics, primitive (if any) shelter, and Indian threats. Early on, there were three communities in the new town. Fort Harmar was built in 1786 with its soldiers and residents was located near where Harmar School is today. Campus Martius was a fortified mini-city about one acre in […]

 This is an abbreviated version for newspaper of an earlier post about the Silver Bridge collapse. To read the full version, including chilling survivor stories, click here.Cars and trucks packed the iconic Silver Bridge at dusk on a cold Friday, December 15, 1967. People were headed home to and from Gallipolis OH and Point Pleasant WV, […]

     You've driven by an old official-looking building on Greene Street dozens of times without noticing it. People used to call it "the bank" because it once resembled one. It was the office/research center/auditorium of the former Remington Rand (originally Safe Cabinet Company) plant. It, and the sprawling four story brick and glass […]