Marietta, OH

Wherever you turn in Marietta, Ohio, (pop. 15,026) you’re likely to find a river. The gentle flowing waters of the Ohio and Muskingum have been an integral part of the town and its people for more than two centuries.

“People come down to Marietta just to see the water,” says Don Sandford, a captain of the Valley Gem Sternwheeler, a sightseeing boat on the Ohio River.

Sandford has piloted the boat up and down the Ohio more times than he can remember; yet he never tires of being out on the water. He understands what residents and tourists like about the historic river town.

“There’s just something about the water that’s very relaxing,” says Sandford, gazing ahead at the river and its wooded banks.

Rivers long have been important to travel in the region. American Indians used birch bark and dugout canoes on local waters before Gen. Rufus Putnam and 48 veterans of the Revolutionary War arrived in boats in 1788 to establish Ohio’s first city and the first American settlement in the Northwest Territory.

Marietta was named to honor Marie Antoinette, the French queen who supported the Americans in the war against Great Britain. Marietta became the seat of government for the territory. Pioneers wishing to purchase land were drawn to Marietta, which soon became known as the Gateway to the Northwest.

Some early settlers arrived by flatboat, which they loaded with livestock, furniture, and other household goods. In the mid-19th century, new steam-powered paddlewheel boats revolutionized river travel, allowing faster and cheaper travel on the Ohio and its tributaries.

Much of Marietta’s growth came during the steamboat era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The town still features wide, tree-lined streets and brick Victorian mansions. One of the town’s landmarks, the Hotel Lafayette, along the riverfront in downtown Marietta, is a tribute to the elegant architectural style at the time.

Although paddlewheels eventually gave way to faster diesel-powered propeller boats, the romance of the earlier crafts lingers. To get a feel for the river—and the town—you need a boat ride.

Boats aren’t just for rides, though. You can catch a melodrama and dinner at the Showboat Becky Thatcher Theater anchored along the Ohio, or even sleep and have breakfast on the Claire E. Sternwheeler on the Muskingum.

A good time to visit Marietta is Sept. 7-9, when the town will host its annual Ohio River Sternwheel Festival. In 1976, a group of boat enthusiasts formed the American Sternwheel Association in Marietta and worked with the town to organize the inaugural event.

Each year the festival draws boat owners and enthusiasts who celebrate the romance and history of the sternwheeler and the bygone era of river travel.

Lou Wendell of St. Albans, W. Va., is among them. Wendell brings his boat—a renovated 1926 sternwheeler named the Rufus B II—up the river to join in the festivities and let others get a glimpse into the past.

“People come out to take pictures,” Wendell says. “Each boat’s different and unique.”

Marietta native Bonnie Parks, who chaired the organizing committee for the 2000 festival, which features a boat race, music, food, and fireworks, says the event is a great opportunity to showcase the charm of the idyllic community on the river.

“It’s a wonderful way to end the summer,” says Bonnie Parks. “It brings back the (riverboat) era.”

Vivian A. Wagner is a freelance writer in New Concord, Ohio.

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