During your visit to the Campus Martius Museum you will learn about America’s migration west as you explore three floors of permanent and temporary exhibits that examine the Northwest Territory and its first settlement Marietta. The Rufus Putnam House and the Ohio Company Land Office are also open to visitors.
Ohio’s First Peoples
Learn about the Adena/Hopewell mound builders, Marietta’s earliest known civilization. Ohio’s First Peoples features original maps and surveys of the extensive mound and earthwork complex built by the Adena/Hopewell mound builders as well as artifacts from the Hopewell period. Additionally, authentic clothing, goods that were traded and tools from the Delaware, Wyandot and Potawatomi tribes that traveled and hunted throughout the area can be seen on display.
Marietta Pioneers
Discover how General Rufus Putnam led the Ohio Company to the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers to claim their land grant after their tour of duty during the Revolutionary War. Marietta Pioneers features a large collection of original artifacts, documents and possessions that once belonged to these pioneers.
Marietta Memories
Experience Marietta, Ohio history in Marietta Memories. This collection includes antique furniture, clothing, photographs, fire equipment, toys and possessions that once belonged to notable citizens of Marietta over its 200 years of existence.
Paradise Found and Lost
Paradise Found and Lost delves into two later waves of migration that shaped Ohio history. From an early mechanized seed drill to clothing worn by contemporary country music artist Dwight Yoakam, explore 90 objects from the Ohio History Connection that tell the story of the movement of many rural Ohioans to cities between 1850 and 1910 and the influx of Appalachian people from Kentucky and West Virginia into Ohio’s industrial centers like Dayton and Akron between 1910 and 1970. Oral histories from the diaries and journals of these settlers, video footage of factory and city life as well as interactive computer programs that explore the migration patterns and Ohio’s economic development are also featured in Paradise Found and Lost.
The Rufus Putnam House
Step inside the restored Rufus Putnam House, originally part of the Martius fortification, to discover how a 1780s pioneer lived. While most of the fort was eventually dismantled and used in the settlers’ new construction, General Putnam chose to remain on the bluff above the Muskingum River, where the house remains to this day. Inside interpretive guides will show you how Mrs. Putnam would have cooked over an open fire, where General Putnam stored private papers and the Putnam’s family bedchambers.
The Ohio Company Land Office
Experience what it was once like for hopeful land owners, view maps and stake your claim in the Northwest Territory during a tour of the original Ohio Company Land Office. This tiny wood cabin was built after the Ohio Company landed at Marietta in 1788. It is the oldest known building in Ohio and where General Rufus Putnam once worked.
- The Campus Martius Museum’s exhibits are wheelchair accessible excluding the second floor of the Rufus Putnam House.
- If time permits, be sure to shop for gifts and keepsakes in the Campus Martius Museum Gift Store.