Campus Martius Museum

Stepping into this red-brick building in Marietta, Ohio, one quickly discovers the enormity of the story within. Not only was Campus Martius where the state of Ohio began, it was the pivotal settlement that opened the rugged frontier to the later formation of the states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

The museum itself was erected in 1928 and is named after the original stockade where members of the Ohio Company of Associates lived after arriving at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers in 1788. It was built to protect the pioneers during the Northwest Indian Wars, and a portion of the fortification remains well preserved for visitors to see firsthand: the home of Marietta founder and Revolutionary War veteran Gen. Rufus Putnam. 

After the Treaty of Greenville was signed in 1795, the stockade was dismantled, but Putnam and his family stayed in their home. Today, the structure still sits on its original foundation, although it is now contained within an enclosed pavilion that is part of the museum. Visitors can see the home during regularly scheduled docent-led tours. The home, which was dedicated as a national landmark in 1972, offers visitors a look into how Ohio’s pioneers lived. 

The rest of the museum tells the story of not only the Ohio Company of Associates, but also the Indigenous history of the area as well as that of early Washington County. 

Visitors should be sure not to miss the opportunity to walk through the Ohio Company Land Office, which sits out back. It is the oldest building in Ohio and the very space in which Putnam and his men worked as they surveyed the Northwest Territory for settlement. 601 Second St., Marietta, Ohio 45750, 740/373-3750, mariettamuseums.org