Marietta Ohio, founded in 1788 by the Ohio Company of Associates, was the first permanent U.S. settlement in the “Northwest Territory”, as the area north and west of the Ohio River was then known. (Today the area would be considered southeast Ohio.)

The town was originally called Adelphia, meaning “brotherhood“, but the company’s investors decided to rename the community Marietta, after Queen Marie Antoinette of France, to honor France’s contributions to the U.S. victory in the American Revolution.

The first settlers were led by Rufus Putnam, an early investor in the Ohio Company. Putnam chose a site along the Ohio River where it joined with the Muskingum River, and the settlers went to work creating a community like the ones they had left behind in New England. Each settler received a lot in town as well as farmland. The settlement boasted a church, a school, wide tree-lined streets, and even a jail.

On July 9, 1788 the Northwest Territory’s first governor, Arthur St. Clair, visited Marietta, and in an formal ceremony, the town was “officially” established. Marietta also became the county seat of Washington County Ohio at the same time.

Due to its location along the Ohio River, Marietta grew quickly, and became a major trade center. Today it is still the largest community in Washington county and is a political and cultural center.

*Marie-Antoinette was queen of France from 1774 to 1793 and is associated with the decline of the French monarchy.

More Info: ohiohistorycentral.org