Classroom

In 1959, the “Valley Players” began performing one-act plays in the Washington Elementary School auditorium. The first full-length pay the group performed was "The Solid Gold Cadillac." As the group grew, their venues continued to change. The troupe performed at the Masonic Park Pavilion in Devola from 1965 to 1968, when they found a permanent home in the Harmar Chapel. For four years in the 1970s, they performed at the Marietta High School auditorium, the Marietta Country Club, and the local Ramada Inn.	After raising funds through a community fundraiser in 1977, the Mid-Ohio Valley Players bought the Putnam Theatre (generally known as “the Cinema”), built-in 1914 as a vaudeville theater. The first performance in the theater was "Carnival" in the summer of 1977. The performers now had a permanent home, and a local landmark was preserved.	The Mid-Ohio Valley Junior Players was founded in 1981 enabled young people to get involved in their community through this outreach program. Additionally, the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Youth Theatre enabled teens and young adults to perform and express themselves through performance.	Additionally in the 1990s, the group did dinner theatre at the Lafayette Hotel. Since then, the Players have worked to restore the theater to its former glory and to keep it up-and-running. Today, the Mid-Ohio Valley Players continue to perform, occasionally performing their original works. Original works include Simon Farrel's "Queen of the River," "The House on Shawnee Street," and "The Portrait."

The thater when it was known as the Putnam Theater

The entrance to the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Inc. Theater

Website

The Putnam Theatre was originally built as a vaudeville theater in 1914. The theater was purchased in 1977 by the Mid-Ohio Valley Players Inc., a group of local performers and artists from Marietta, Ohio. The theater showcases the group’s talents year-round and brings the community together through shows and youth outreach programs.

Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre

This walking tour includes a dozen sites and was built to help residents and visitors explore the history of Marietta, Ohio. Learn about Rufus Putnam and the other first settlers who settled in Marietta. The tour includes historic hotels, public buildings, and a variety of landmarks that share the history of Marietta through a short walk around the downtown area.

Each of the three buildings of the Ohio River Museum house a different exhibit. The first exhibit describes the natural history and origins of the Ohio River. The second provides a history of the steamboat on the Ohio River and features video presentation on river steamboats. Boat building, mussels in the Ohio River system, and tools and equipment from the steamboat era are displayed in the third building.

By stepping aboard the W.P. Snyder Jr., which happens to be the nation’s last intact steam-powered, stern-wheeled towboat, visitors can explore the story of the Ohio River. Visitors may also cruise the Ohio River on the Valley Gem, a working sternwheeler that is docked next to the Ohio River Museum.

On the Muskingum River, close to where it reaches the Ohio River, sits the Ohio River Museum. The museum explores the history of the Ohio River, which is one of the most important rivers in the United States. While on the tour, visitors can learn about the ecology of the river, its role in the golden age of the steamboat, and more. Comprising of three buildings, the museum offers guests an insight as to why the Ohio River has played such an important role in American history. Additionally, on the outside of the museum, visitors can take a tour of the W. P. SNYDER JR, the last intact steam-powered, stern-wheeled towboat in the United States. 

Ohio River Museum

Beginning in 1788, Rufus Putnam, superintendent of the Ohio Company, began building his home in Campus Martius. His home was one of the original row houses comprising Campus Martius. The fort was dismantled after the Treaty of Greeneville hurt peaceful relations on the frontier. However, Putnam and his family remained in their home.

By adding four new rooms to his home, Putnam more than doubled its size. Putnam continued to live in his Campus Martius home until his death in 1824. After his death, the executors of his estate sold the home to Judge Arius Nye.

When Judge Arius Nye passed away, the house was transferred over to his daughter, Miss Minerva Tupper Nye. The home was rented out to tenants until 1900. The Daughters of the American Revolution leased the home from 1905-1907. The Marietta Chapter of DAR used the home to display pioneer relics.

From 1907 to 1917 the home was locked and boarded up. Miss Nye rejected offers to purchase the home hoping that an organization would come along that would preserve the home as a relic of the illustrious pioneers.

The efforts of Miss Nye and the Marietta Chapter of DAR played a large role in the preservation of the Rufus Putnam Home. Their influence led the State Society of the DAR to appeal to the General Assembly in 1916. Thousands signed their petition for the purchasing of the Putnam House. In 1917, Honor G.F. Reed and Senator Crawford introduced a bill into the Legislature for the purchase of the home. The Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society became the custodians of the Rufus Putnam House.

Several restorations and renovations have taken place at the Rufus Putnam House.

Campus Martius, a civilian fortification, was built in 1788 by the Ohio Company of Associates. When the fort was disassembled, General Rufus Putnam left his blockhouse on the original fort site. In 1931, the Campus Martius Museum was erected over the Rufus Putnam House. Today, the museum preserves the history of America's migration west, its earliest native inhabitants, and Marietta's pioneers. Visitors can also tour the Rufus Putnam House and the Ohio Company Land Office.

Campus Martius Museum of the Northwest Territory

The first library building was erected on Front Street on the present site of the Masonic Temple Building. It was a two-story building; the upper floor had a speaker’s platform and seats while the lower floor was reserved for the library and offices. A lyceum, an association for discussion by lectures, was formed in 1831. It continued to operate for ten years and was then replaced by a similar organization that sponsored lectures by college faculty. The Library Hall was the site of many meetings over the years, including the Anti-Slavery Society in 1835 and the Marietta City Council which met in the hall until 1870.During the Civil War, people became less interested in the library. They were distracted by the difficult times in which they lived, preferring to read newspapers about recent happenings rather than fiction or histories. Cheap literature available at newsstands also contributed to a decline in library use, particularly among the young. Then, the generous founders of the library died, and income decreased. According to the Journal of A. T. Nye, 2nd, the Marietta Library closed by an order of the shareholders on January 30, 1883. The books were&nbsp;placed in a private attorney’s office and then in storage. In 1889, Library Hall was leased to the Woman’s Centennial Association. They used the hall as an assembly room until the building was sold to the Masonic Building Company in 1907.&nbsp;On November 16, 1897,&nbsp; the Marietta Library was reorganized as the Marietta Library Association. On March 6th, 1901, a Code of Regulations was adopted, and a Board of Trustees were then appointed. They collected $2,700 to purchase books for the library. The new library opened on May 1st, 1901. In June, Willia D. Cotton was selected as the permanent librarian after the library was moved to the new high school building on Scammel Street. By that time, the library received many books from the old Library Association in 1907. The two collections were particularly rich in history and biographies. In 1912, the Marietta City Board of Education informed the Library that it would have to move to a different location because of the size of the high school. The trustees purchased an option on a property at Fourth and Putnam Street that fall, but the lot was covered in water due to a flood in 1913. The library trustees then chose an elevated site called Capitolium near Fifth and Washington Streets. The city of Marietta gave the property to the Library Association on May 20th, 1915 to construct a free public library. It was set aside by the Ohio Land Company in January of 1796 for public buildings. Andrew Carnegie pledged $30,000 for library construction while&nbsp;the city provided the lot and monies for operation. Public donations yielded $4,000.&nbsp;Construction began during the summer of 1916 and was completed in 1918. Today, the 615 Fifth Street location serves as the main library for the Washington County Public Library System.The library sits on a temple mound called the Capitolium. It is eight feet high, fifty feet long and twenty feet wide. When excavating, no bones were found to indicate that it was a burial place. Capitolium also was part of the earthworks systems that also include Quadranaou at Sacra Via.&nbsp;

Marietta and Washington County have had a long history of public library service. In 1796, the private library of Colonel Israel Putnam became what is considered to be the first public library in the Northwest Territory. Records show that shares in the Putnam Family Library were sold as early as 1796. This goes before the organization of the more famous “Coonskin Library” in Amesville by six years. The Putnam Family Library later became known as the Belpre Farmer’s Library. In February of 1830, the name was changed to Marietta Library, and it is now a Washington County Public Library.

The Marietta Public Library

The Castle is an example of the Gothic Revival style. Special features of the house are the octagonal tower, a trefoil attic window, and stone capped spires. The front of the property is lined by a cut stone wall and a Victorian cast iron fence revealing a brick and stone sidewalk on an elevated terrace. The interior features a scagliola fireplace mantle, coodge paper-mache moldings, and floor to ceiling, self-storing shutters on the front bay window.&nbsp;The house was designed by John Slocomb, the architect of the Anchorage in Harmar Village and Henderson Hall in nearby West Virginia. Both the Anchorage and Henderson Hall are Italianate villas. Slocomb showcased his versatility and great range with the design of the Castle.&nbsp;The oldest part of the Castle is the summer kitchen, which was built in 1830. The main house and the detached carriage house were built in 1855. The rooster weather vane on top of the carriage house is an original. The iron fence on the Fourth Street sidewalk also was installed to keep cows from wandering into the front yard.Several citizens have called the Castle home. Melvin Clarke, a local attorney and abolitionist, began construction in 1855. It continued until 1858 when he sold the property for $2000. Later, he lost his life in the Civil War at Antietam. John Newton, agent for the Marietta Bucket Factory, purchased the home. He and his family enjoyed entertaining there for over twenty-five years. He later died in 1886, and the Castle was sold to Edward W. Nye. He was the publisher of The Marietta Gazette&nbsp;and only lived there a year before his death.&nbsp;The house then passed on to his daughter, Lucy Nye Davis, who was married to Theodore Davis. He was elected to the 68th General Assembly as a State Senator. Her eldest daughter and heir, Jessie, was fourteen when her mother inherited the home. Jessie lived in the Castle until her death, five days before her 100th birthday in 1974. Because she never wanted to leave the house, her funeral was also at the Castle.&nbsp;The Castle was then purchased by L. Stewart Bosley and his sister Dr. Bertlyn Bosley. They began a renovation project that lasted nearly two decades. The house was deeded to the Betsey Mills Corporation in 1992, "as an historical asset for the City of Marietta with such asset to be used for educational and public purposes." This was done after Stewart and Bertlyn Bosley died.&nbsp;The Castle opened to the public in 1994. It is furnished with Victorian-era furniture and art. The Castle hosts musical events, workshops, lectures, and special programs for children and is open for tours. Also, several photos of the Castle before the renovations began are on display in the carriage house, which serves as a visitors' center and gift shop. Hours vary by season.

Built in 1855 by Melvin C. Clarke, a prominent attorney and abolitionist, the Castle is a focal point in Marietta. Sitting atop the hill on Fourth Street, it has been home to some of the most influential citizens of Marietta. Today, the home is operated as a local history museum. 

The Castle, Marietta Ohio

In 1815, Dr. John Cotton moved to Marietta with his wife Susan. Once they moved, Dr. Cotton noticed problems such as flooding, bad agriculture, and rampant diseases. Nonetheless, he decided to stay and built a large home on the corner of Butler and Post Streets. The building was once located just behind where Twisted Sisters, a local apparel store, is today and later became the St. James Hotel. Dr. John Cotton became a mover and shaker in town and was one of the main people to help found&nbsp;Marietta College. He often lectured there and at the Female Seminary located at the corner of Second and Putnam Streets. John Jr. and Josiah Dexter were the sons of Dr. John Cotton. Both boys became doctors. However, the family relationship suffered from strain during the Civil War. Dr. John Cotton Jr. married into a Confederate family, with his wife being arrested for aiding the Confederate Army. Five of those she helped were her brothers.&nbsp;Dr. Josiah Dexter Cotton, however, was a surgeon for the Union Army.&nbsp;&nbsp;Dr. Josiah D. Cotton constructed the Cotton House in 1853. At that time, Fifth Street was populated with many homes near Marietta College. The streets were not yet lined with bricks, and the hills made Fifth Street difficult to reach at times. The back section of the house was added in 1884, which accommodated Dr. Cotton's children. Cotton was a respected man in town. He had a loving family and a happy marriage with his wife. They supported abolition and equal education for women. Dr. Cotton's youngest daughter, Willia, became one of the first female graduates of a co-ed Marietta College campus in 1898. She never married, instead pursuing a career in library science. She was the head of the Washington County Public Library until she was involved in a car accident in the 1930s. Since 1919, the Cotton House has had many owners. In the 1920s, a man named Mr. Plummer owned the house. His wife ran a curio shop called "Pandora's Box" out of the rear section of the house. After the Plummers declared bankruptcy, the Cotton House became a Marietta College fraternity house and then a sorority house. In 1984, it was reconverted into a single-family dwelling. During the extensive renovation, the contractor hid a time capsule somewhere inside the house. &nbsp;

The Cotton House is a Greek Revival brick house built in 1853. It was built with gallery porches on each side to give it a palatial southern feeling. The temple front facade, topped by a pediment with a fan-shaped window, and the recessed doorway give the house an imposing look. Dr. Josiah Dexter Cotton erected this house, which still stands today. A graduate of Marietta College in 1842, Cotton studied medicine with his father and practiced as a physician in Marietta. He also served for three years in the Civil War as a surgeon of the Ninety-Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. 

 


Josiah D. Cotton House

The colonial mound was called Marie Antoinette Square until 1791; it was then designated as Mound Square. Its perpendicular altitude is 30 feet, and its base is a circle, 375 feet in circumference. Back then, it was surrounded by a moat 15 feet wide and 4 feet deep. It was also defended by a parapet 20 feet thick and 585 feet in circumference. The Great Mound that is the center of this cemetery is referred to as Conus. It is part of an Ohio Hopewell complex that is believed to have been built&nbsp;between 100 BCE and 500 CE. There are several other mounds that are part of the complex. <div> </div><div>The city of Marietta was founded in 1788 by members of the Ohio Company of Associates like Rufus Putnam. Many were Revolutionary War Veterans and officers, most likely high-ranking. Founders like Rufus Putnam wanted to protect the Cronus, so they established a cemetery to protect it. In order to preserve the mound, the founders of Marietta decided to lease it to General Rufus Putnam for twelve years under certain conditions. The whole square was to be surrounded by mulberry trees with an elm at each corner. The base of the mound was to be encircled with weeping willows, with evergreens on the mound. The circular parapet outside of the ditch was to be surrounded by trees, all within the square to remain undisturbed by the plow and seeded down to grass. Also, the whole area had to be enclosed with a post and rail fence. </div> There are thirty Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the cemetery, including eighteen officers (five Captains, three Majors, five Colonels, four Generals, and a Commodore). Other famous and notable figures are buried in the Mound Cemetery include Rufus Putnam, who fought in the French and Indian War and then was a General of the United States from 1796 to 1803. He later became a delegate to the Ohio Constitutional Convention. Return Jonathan Meigs spent his life in democratic politics in Ohio. He served as a Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, Federal Judge, United States Senator from Ohio, and the fourth Governor of the State of Ohio. Abraham Whipple was the man who fired the first shot at the British on the water.&nbsp;He was the twelfth commissioned officer in the US Navy. He was also a founder of Marietta.&nbsp;William Augustus Whittlesey was a member of the Ohio Legislature and then a United States Representative to Congress from Ohio's 13th district. Archaeologists from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History excavated a section of the Capitolium mound in 1990. They determined that the mound was in fact constructed by peoples of the Hopewell Culture. Here are other Revolutionary War soldiers that were buried at the Mound Cemetery: <ul><li>Col. Robert Taylor,&nbsp;First Burial Here</li><li>Gen. Joseph Buel</li><li>Maj. Ezra Putnam</li><li>Andrew McAllister</li><li>Ephraim Foster</li><li>Gershom Flagg</li><li>John Holt</li><li>Surgeon Jabez True</li><li>Griffin Greene, Sr., Quartermaster</li><li>Col. Ebnezer Sproat</li><li>Col. William Stacey, Sr.</li><li>Gen. Benjamin Tupper</li><li>Maj. Anselm Tupper</li><li>Maj. Joseph Lincoln&nbsp;</li><li>Capt. Nathaniel Saltonstall</li><li>Nathaniel Dodge</li><li>Col. Enoch Sheperd</li><li>Jeremiah Thomas</li><li>Samuel Hidreth, Sr.&nbsp;</li><li>Judge Dudley Woodbridge</li><li>Sala Bosworth</li><li>Levi Lankton</li><li>Col. Ichabod Nye</li><li>Ephraim Emerson</li><li>Capt. Josiah Munro</li><li>John Green</li><li>James Hatch</li><li>Capt. Joseph Rogers</li><li>Matthew Kerr</li><li>Capt. William Moulton, Jr.</li><li>Nathan Evans</li><li>Gen. Joseph Willcox</li><li>Simeon Goodwin</li></ul>

Marietta founder Rufus Putnam wanted to protect a mound, called the Cronus, in town that had been constructed by people of the Hopewell culture. To do so, he suggested a cemetery be built around it. The cemetery became known as the Mound Cemetery starting in 1791. Many Ohio officials and Revolutionary War veterans were buried in the cemetery.


Mound Cemetery

The Peoples Bank Theatre was built in 1919 as the Hippodrome Theater. The Hippodrome had previously been a vaudeville house located on Second and Union Streets completed on May 18, 1911. However, a fire destroyed the theater in November 1917, prompting the C &amp; M Amusement Company to construct a new Hippodrome on Putnam and Third Streets (the theater’s present location). The theater showed Daddy Long Legs starring Mary Pickford for its May 9th, 1919 reopening.

The second Hippodrome was more elaborate than its predecessor. The theater featured large stages (appropriate for Broadway plays), plush carpeting, impressive acoustics, an orchestra pit, and two moving picture projectors. There was also about twice as much seating as in the old theater. To accompany silent films, there was a Möller&nbsp;theatre pipe organ with pipes located in&nbsp;the false opera boxes at stage right. But, in 1929, the C&amp;M Amusement Company installed Vitaphone technology, making it the first theater in Marietta to show “talking pictures.”

After being taken over by the Shea Theatre company of New York, the Hippodrome was remodeled in 1949. Outside, the stone archway was removed and replaced with a two-story Southern-Colonial brick façade, and the box office moved to the side of the entrance. Inside, new carpeting, stage drapes, and other minor updates rounded out the transformation. A contest was held to rename the theater, and so the Hippodrome became the Colony Cinema on June 25th, 1949.

On February 12th, 1957, the Colony Cinema hosted the world premiere of Battle Hymn starring Rock Hudson as Marietta native Colonel Dean Hess. The town was abuzz during the week of the premiere with visiting celebrities and record-breaking attendance for the small-town theater. But, many movie theaters experienced a downturn in the 1950s and 1960s as more and more people chose to stay home and watch television rather than drive to a theater in town. To woo audiences back, many theaters tried to improve themselves; the Colony was no different. In 1969, the theater was renovated again, removing a staircase to make room for more concessions and taking out seats to add legroom.

During the late 1970s, the Colony Cinema was sold and resold to a number of out-of-town companies until it was purchased by Marietta local Marjorie Bee. Bee had previously worked at the theater, and she was determined to keep it running. Unfortunately, the theater had to be closed in December 1985 due to low attendance and high bills. Local businessman Dan Stephan Sr. then bought the Colony in 1989, hoping that it could be restored and preserved.

Starting in 2001, the Hippodrome/Colony Historical Theatre Association raised funds necessary for such an undertaking. The theater reopened in 2016 as the Peoples Bank Theatre and continues to exhibit movies and live performances as well as hosting events such as graduations.&nbsp;

The Peoples Bank Theatre was built in 1919 as the Hippodrome Theatre. The theater was primarily a cinema as opposed to its predecessor, also called the Hippodrome, which was a vaudeville house that showed some movies. The first Hippodrome burnt down in 1917, leading to the construction of this more elaborate theater. Over the years, the theater has changed owners, appearances, and names. It was known as the Colony Cinema for much of the late twentieth century. The Colony Cinema closed in 1985 and was restored in the 2000s and 2010s, reopening in 2016 as the Peoples Bank Theatre.

The Peoples Bank Theatre

The First Congregational Church
of Marietta was established by settlers from Marietta, Waterford, Belpre,
Warren, Newport, and Harmar, Ohio as well as Vienna, Virginia (now West Virginia).
The church was officially organized on December 6th, 1796 with 31
members. The first deacons were Dr. Josiah Hart of Marietta, Joseph Spencer of
Vienna, Benjamin Miles of Belpre, and Nathon Proctor of Waterford. Before its
founding, locals from around Marietta would gather in the street to hear a
pastor from back East preach from a booth. It is believed that the booth was
located near the church’s present location. In 1798, Reverend Daniel Story
became the church’s first pastor. He would preach three Sundays out of five in
Marietta and the other two in church branches in nearby Waterford and Belpre. When
he could not attend, Colonel Ebenezer Battelle would read a sermon in Belpre
and Major Dean Tyler would read at Waterford.

Services were held in the
Muskingum Academy until the congregation outgrew it. It took years for plans to
build a church to get approved. The actual building finally began in 1807 and
ended in 1808. On May 28th, 1809, the church was dedicated. Because of
the church’s two towers, called “bell cones,” the church was soon nicknamed the
“Two-Horned Church.” The towers were patterned after the Hollis St.
Congregational Church that Rufus Putnam attended in Boston. The church was
remodeled in 1901-1902 but completely destroyed by a fire in 1905. A new
building similar to the original was built at the same location only a year
later.

For years after Mary Lake quit
teaching the first Sunday School in Ohio, the growth of Sundays Schools slowed.
Many of the schools were run by individuals rather than churches. So, David
Putnam of the First Congregational Church worked to establish better ones. In
1817, the First Congregational Church pushed the Moral Society (founded 1814),
of which many members were a part, to found three Sunday Schools in the area.
This move seems to have encouraged the church’s interest in spiritual matters
as they voted January 1st, 1818 to meet once a week to pray for a revival of
religion. For fifty years, the meetings were held on Thursday evenings. On May
11th, 1868, the church voted to change it to Wednesday nights.

The First Congregational Church
of Marietta is still active today.

Rufus Putnam and his men came to the mouth of the Muskingum River on April 7th, 1788, founding a settlement that would become the town of Marietta, Ohio. For years, the settlers of this area had no formal church services. Then, in 1796, local Christians founded the nondenominational First Congregational Church. The congregation’s first church was completed in 1808 but burned down in 1905. A new church, designed to look like the first, was completed in 1906. Services are still held there today as part of the United Church of Christ.

The First Congregational Church of Marietta, Ohio

Many German immigrants came to Marietta, Ohio in the early and mid-1800s, bringing their brewing traditions with them. During that time, three or four breweries were established in town. Three immigrants, William Feller, August V. Kuehn, and Jacob Epple, bought the Union Brewing Company in 1868.&nbsp; The three men operated the Marietta Brewing Company, as they called it, for more than twenty years, until 1904. They offered home delivery of six bottles of beer in town for fifty cents. 

Descendants of owners Jacob Epple and August V. Kuehn
include their great-grandchildren Jann Kuehn Adams, Charles Barnes, and William
Marshall. Charlotte Kuehn is the only member of the Kuehn family who still
bears the last name. Her grandfather, August Kuehn, was the president of the
company. Kuehn died in 1913 and was succeeded as company president by Epple.
Epple ran the company until it closed in 1924 due to the onset of Prohibition
in 1919.&nbsp;



The Marietta Brewery continued as a soft drink bottling plant through the end of Prohibition in the early 1930s. It was demolished in the 1940s, and a service station stood at the Second Street location until it was torn down. Some remains of the original brewery can still be seen in the basement of the first settlement building where a stone-arched former brewery storage facility has been turned into a physical therapy room. The alley that runs behind the medical facility, off St. Clair Street between Front and Second Streets, continues to bear the name "Brewery Lane."

Over the years, the Marietta Brewery has been through many
owners. In October of 2009, the owner, Kevin Laughery, almost lost the liquor
license for the popular brewery. Then, he chose to sell it to Dave Broughton,
who bought it at a local auction. Only a few months later, Tony and Dana Styer
bought the brewery. They continue to run the flourishing business today.

The Marietta Brewery, initially known as the Union Brewery, was built at the Second Street location in 1866 by Christian Held. The Union Brewery plant changed hands many times between 1866 and 1868, when William Feller and Company grabbed the opportunity to purchase the brewery. They then renamed it the Marietta Brewery Company. This brewery has brought many visitors to the town of Marietta because of the large mural near the back of the business. The mural is a painting of fifteen men, which include owners and employees of the original brewery.

Marietta Brewery Company

Peter Kunz came to the United States from Bavaria at age eighteen. In Lowell, Ohio he opened a cobbler shop and later was a farmer near Bonn, a community laid out in 1835 by early German settlers. He married Mary Zumbro of Fearing Township and had a family. From there, the Kunz family moved to Marietta in 1858 where Kunz bought the Richards General Store on Greene Street. Unfortunately, an 1859 fire took the store and other buildings down. This did not deter Mr. Kunz; he obtained a lot at 50 Front Street. Afterward, he&nbsp;erected the two-story brick building which stands today. Kunz's store was listed as selling dry goods. His sons assisted him in the business when they were available. His son Frank was a partner from 1880 to 1885 when his father retired. Peter Kunz, Jr. had worked in his father's mercantile business from the time he was a boy until 1881. He later decided to have his own dry goods store on Front Street. Upon his father's retirement, Peter Kunz Jr. closed his own store and took over the business at 162 Front Street. The store was established with a complete line of fancy and domestic goods. This included cloaks, furs, and dress goods of domestic and foreign origin.&nbsp;Advertisements for the store were included in the newspaper, and the Polk Directory suggested that their business was very successful. Eventually, Kunz's son, C. Frederick Kunz, took the store over from his father. After a terrible flood in 1913, Frederick closed the store and joined the Turner-Ebinger firm. This was an expanding dry goods store that was located across the street. Between 1914 and the 1940s, the building served as a dry goods store, a saloon, a bakery, a dinnerware company, a meat market, and used furniture stores. In 1946, the ninety-year-old building became the Wine Shop. Campbell J. Mike and Eugene Chidester started the business, complete with home delivery. Mike continued to run the business for over 25 years and rented out the second floor. After Mike's departure, Benjamin and Catherine Bain purchased the property in 1976. Mrs. Bain was listed as the president of the Wine Shop. Wines, beer, champagnes, sherries, and other beverages from around the world were available to customers. To gain customers, Bain offered an empty six-pack container for customers to fill with a variety of beers instead of all the same kind. The shop also included many gourmet food items and coffees. Due to illness, Mrs. Bain had to leave the store; her daughter, Babette Bole, gained ownership in 2004 and operated it until 2012. The building has been vacant ever since. The city of Marietta had concerns about the decaying condition of the one hundred and fifty-year-old building. Today, the preservation of the historic building is in jeopardy as time wears away the mortar of the brinks and&nbsp;stability of the walls.

 “The Old Wine Shop” building was built in 1861 by Peter Kunz, a German immigrant. Kunz and his family sold dry goods in the store until 1913 when a flood prompted its closure. The building was then used for a variety of businesses, such as a bakery and a used furniture store before it became a wine shop in 1946. The Wine Shop closed in 2012. The historic building has sat dormant ever since.

The Old Wine Shop

Before the construction of the Lafayette Hotel, the Bellevue Hotel, built in 1892, stood at the same location. The Bellevue was a four-story-tall hotel with fifty-five steam-heated rooms. Each room was said to have a call bell system and a hot bath. The rate was $2-$3.00/night. The Bellevue burned down on April 26, 1916. The Lafayette Hotel opened its doors on July 1, 1918, built by a Marietta businessman. The hotel was incorporated as the Marietta Hotel Company, which owned the original building and the property.Both the Lafayette Hotel and the city of Marietta are of historical importance. Established in 1788, Marietta is the first permanent settlement of the United States northwest of the Ohio River. It was the gateway to the Ohio country, and settlers moving west into what is now Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The Lafayette sits on the Ohio River and in the heart of the Historic Downtown Marietta district. Just a short ride away are Marietta College, several museums, shops, and restaurants. Across the Muskingum River is Harmar Village, which offers more options to those wanting to explore the area's history. The hotel offers several events besides the historically decorated and themed rooms containing historical artifacts. The Lafayette also features the Gun Room and the Rufus Putnam Dining Room, which has been made famous by its large collection of Long Rifles that date from 1795 to 1880. The hotel also has a fully functional ballroom that has been part of the hotel since the beginning.The hotel was not completely finished until June 30th; some of the furniture had not yet arrived, but the hotel was in a very fine condition when it opened. After July 6th, the hotel was ready for not only businessmen but also citizens of the Marietta area who booked for the near future at the Lafayette Hotel. The hotel was modern in every aspect with the best furniture. The rooms were furnished with steel beds, box springs, and felt mattresses. Each room had a rocking chair, large dresser, writing table, and other accessories. The hotel was equipped with a running elevator, too.The first guest, W. J. Ambrose from Huntington, West Virginia, registered at the Lafayette Hotel and was welcomed by the manager, Reno G. Hoag. Hoag came to Marietta highly recommended and was popular and well-known throughout the eastern part of the United States. He started his career in hotels in his early years in Courtland, New York. He then served as a clerk, and later as a manager, at the Livingston Hotel in Michigan. He married Miss Daisy B. Cough on October 7, 1899. They lived at the hotel with their two children, S. Durwand and Miss Maxine L. Hoag.When the hotel first opened, many of the guests were officers, salesmen, or friends of the Safe Cabinet Company of the city of Marietta. Many would come in the morning, and by midnight, Night Clerk Sam Gardiner had every part of the hotel working to capacity with men from all over the United States. The main cafe was opened and head waiter Robinson and Chef Hathaway served the first official dinner at the Lafayette. Hathaway was formerly a chef at the Courtland Hotel in Canton, Ohio for 12 years, serving gourmet food that made him well-known.In 1921, Hoag and his son, S. Durwand Hoag, formed a partnership that purchased the contents of the building and signed a long-term lease for the building. In 1931, they incorporated it as the Hoag Hotel Co., Inc. In 1937, the owners demolished the Mansion House adjacent to the hotel and built the Hoag Addition of thirty rooms. They bought old buildings near the hotel and expanded for more parking and facilities. In 1973, Hoag sold the hotel to the Bel-Par Realty Corporation, whose owner was Harry Robinson Jr. Robinson Jr. then announced the sale of the historic hotel in 1983 to two local businessmen, Van Olnhausen and Ramon Fuentes. Robinson Jr. planned to stay active in the community of Marietta but wanted out of the business to plan for retirement. After the hotel was sold, the new owners continued to compete with other hotels by possessing a competitive spirit and planned to increase the size of the staff.

Located on the corner of Greene and Front Streets, this hotel is named after the French hero of the American Revolution, Marquis de Lafayette, who visited the city in 1825. A plaque marks the spot where Lafayette first came ashore in Marietta. Locals say that he was the first tourist to visit Marietta. The hotel is important to the city and hosts several historically themed events and rooms. It was built in 1918 on the site of the former Bellvue Hotel, which had occupied the spot since 1892 until it burned down in 1916. Pictures of the fire are on display in the hotel’s Gunroom Restaurant.

History of Marietta Ohio Walking Tour

Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theatre

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information