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Aviatrix Amelia Earhart was the Taylor Swift of the 1920s and 30s. It was not music but her accomplishments in flying and her charm that made her so famous. She visited Parkersburg, WV, to give a speech at Parkersburg High School on October 30, 1936. That was just months before she and co-pilot Fred Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937, in the […]

 This photo and caption reproduced below were authored by Hotel Lafayette owner, local historian, and accomplished photographer S. Durward Hoag. This was one of his entertaining Marietta Times columns “Round and Round Below the Railroad Tracks” from the 1960s and 1970s. Spelling and punctuation are from the article.   ROUND AND ROUND DELVES […]

     They called him Billy. His real name was William Dawes, Jr., ancestor of Marietta’s noted Dawes family. He rode with Paul Revere on his famous 1775 midnight ride. But Dawes was left out of the story, along with a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott. To paraphrase author Christopher Klein, “While Paul Revere galloped into history, his […]

     There is a monument at the corner of Gilman and Virginia Streets in Harmar. It sits near busy traffic lanes, yet offers a serene view of the Ohio River. It was a gift of France, donated as part of the Northwest Territory Sesquicentennial Celebration in 1937-38 in appreciation for the service of the World War I Marietta College Ambulance […]

Turned off by the spiteful rhetoric in today’s political discourse? Stressed by the twenty-four hour news cycle and social media rancor? Go back to the 1924 presidential campaign. A Marietta native, Charles Gates Dawes, was the running mate of Calvin Coolidge on the Republican ticket. Dawes is the serious-looking one on the right in the photo. […]

The hill behind the former Children’s Home complex in Marietta offers a serene view of the area. Breezes rustle the leaves of giant oak trees towering over the site. A mowed clearing with a chain link fence seems out of place. A plaque identifies the site as a burial ground for children who died while residents of the Home. It is a poignant […]

History often overlooked women in early America. There were many notable women in our area. This is one such profile. Steamboating was a male dominated vocation in the late 1800’s.  There were no licensed female captains on the Ohio or Mississippi Rivers. Then Mary Becker Greene came along and earned those licenses before age 29. She became an […]

Joseph Buell, Marietta pioneer, future General of the Militia, businessman, and legislator, had a rough start at Fort Harmar: He was court-martialed. He sold liquor “without permission” when he traded a pint of liquor to buy some catfish. Fortuntately, he was acquitted. Joseph Buell was born in Killingsley CT in 1763. He arrived as a sergeant […]

The steamboat MECHANIC chugged along at full throttle up the Ohio River below Louisville on the evening of May 8, 1825. The weather was pleasant; it had been a beautiful day. On board was Revolutionary War hero, French nobleman (General) Marquis de Lafayette, who was on a tour of America. The governors of Tennessee and Illinois, distinguished […]

Manasseh Cutler was served macaroni and cheese at a state dinner hosted by President Thomas Jefferson in 1802. He did not like it and said so publicly. Cutler was a scientist, pastor, and architect of the new territory that enabled the settlement of Marietta and statehood for Ohio. He is considered a co-founder of Ohio University, chartered in […]