Due to COVID-19, the Legacy Library has taken down the Ohio Pioneers exhibit. The library plans to reopen the exhibit in Spring 2021 so watch for details! In the meantime, please enjoy our virtual exhibit.
Summary
The public is invited to view an exciting exhibit featuring Marietta's early history through rare books, manuscripts, and artwork from the Legacy Library Special Collections. The exhibit, inspired by the release of Pulitzer Prize winning author David McCullough's book, The Pioneers, will be open to the public in Marietta College's Legacy Library. Many of David McCullough's publications are available in the Legacy Library.
Location
Marietta College
Legacy Library
215 5th Street
Marietta, Ohio 45750
Exhibit Dates
Library exhibit has been taken down until further notice.
Hours
Monday-Thursday 7:30 a.m. - Midnight
Friday 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturday 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sunday 12:00 p.m. - Midnight
For Special Collections hours, specific days and holidays check the Library Calendar.
Admission
Exhibit is free and open to the public. Groups are encouraged to visit!!! In order to better accommodate your group, please schedule a visit by calling 740-376-4757.
Parking
Short-term visitor spaces are located at Fayerweather Hall off of Butler Street between 4th and 7th streets. Parking Map
Layout of the exhibition
First Floor
Your journey through the early history of Marietta begins with a number of beautiful landscape paintings and early sketches of the region in the Schwartz Fireplace Lounge. You will also find someone you might recognize: our country's first president, George Washington. His words to Marquis de Lafayette, quoted above, provide the guiding light for our exhibit.
Second Floor
Near the Worthington Center, you will find information about the daily life of the early pioneers as they attempted to create a new civilization in the wilderness. Detailed maps show the journey west. Marie Antoinette, for whom Marietta is named, watches over this area with two of her children, Marie Thérèse and Dauphin Louis Joseph.
Third Floor
Travel to the third floor where eleven panels walk the visitor through the history of the settlement of the area and chronicle the lives of important people in the region. The panels detail the early history of Marietta, and there is an activity for the kids. Marquis de Lafayette attends to visitors on this floor.
Lower Level
On the lower level, you will find a number of historical treasures including documents of the Ohio Company of Associates, Rufus Putnam, Samuel P. Hildreth, and the Cutler family. Oil paintings of early Marietta settlers are on display in the Special Collections Reading Room. Alexander Hamilton, a shareholder in the Ohio Company, oversees this area.
