The Gateway To The Northwest

On April 7, 1788, a flatboat, a galley and three log canoes arrived at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers. Forty-eight men of the Ohio Company Associates led by General Rufus Putnam came ashore and began a great, historic adventure.

These pioneers, veterans of the Revolutionary War, preserved through daunting hardships to found Marietta, the first organized American (within the United States) settlement in the Northwest Territory, and Ohio's first city. Marietta was named to honor Marie Antoinette, the French Queen who supported the Americans in the war against Great Britain. Marietta was the seat of government for the Northwest Territory. Drawing many pioneers wishing to purchase land, it soon became known as The Gateway To The Northwest.

They were men---real men---the first handful of pioneers who founded Marietta on April 7, 1788. Theirs was no wild dream of hidden treasures of fabulous riches; but the undying desire to live---to breathe the air---to make happy homes for themselves and their families. Fear was not in their hearts. They dared to risk privation, possible famine and even death---because they believed in this area. The quitter---the weakling---lingered for a time, then left defeated. But those we remember---those who went on to achieve--the builders--remained to fashion one of the most beautiful and productive areas in the entire United States---MARIETTA!

Through out several generations, we have reaped and are reaping the rewards made possible through their efforts. In agriculture, in industry, in natural resources, Marietta is rich. And it is our duty to keep the wheels of progress in motion; to preserve this abudant wealth, to make use of it wisely---for our own benefit and for the benefit of posterity.

But the real progress--the actual ground work of achievement--must be credited to those first sturdy settlers. They had the will to win, the constant determination to build their lives around success--they were the kind of men and women who made America the great nation it is today.

Townships in Washington County, Ohio include:

ADAMS; AURELIUS; BARLOW; BELPRE & BLENNERHASSET; DECATUR; DUNHAM; FAIRFIELD; FEARING; GRANDVIEW; INDEPENDENCE; LAWRENCE; LIBERTY; LUDLOW; MARIETTA, PIONEER & HARMAR VILLAGE; MUSKINGUM; NEWPORT; PALMER; SALEM; UNION; WARREN; WATERFORD; WATERTOWN; WESLEY