Photo by Judith Piersall Land office of the Ohio Company - 1788

It would be a safe bet to say that many Mariettans are not aware of the large murals depicting the settlement of Marietta that line the corridors of City Hall at 301 Putnam St. These eye-catching paintings, which represent various aspects of the founding of our town, as well as the early years of its existence, are on display there for all to see.

Marietta commissioned Chicago artist William Mark Young, who lived in Cleveland at the time, to paint twelve murals as part of Marietta’s sesquicentennial celebration in 1937. At that time, the town was also celebrating our brand “new” City Hall, which had just been completed in that same year, after the first City Hall, built in 1871, had been destroyed by arson.

An accomplished artist, Young was best known for painting a series of murals for the Ohio Exhibit at the 1933 Chicago “Century of Progress” World’s Fair, organized by Marietta’s Rufus Cutler Dawes. Young had also painted two murals on the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 for the Ohio Statehouse Rotunda. According to Young’s grandson, his grandfather worked as a commercial artist, making Christmas cards for the Northern Trust, maps for the Atlas Company, and etchings for Chicago newspapers.

The murals Young painted of Marietta’s settlement hung on the walls at City Hall until 2013 when they were removed so that they could be restored by David Terry Fine Art. At that time, they were taken to the Campus Martius Museum for a few years to be placed on exhibit until completion of the City Hall renovation, at which time, they were returned to City Hall and remain there today. Dr. Andrew Wehrman, associate professor of history at Marietta College, served as guest curator, along with some student involvement, for the mural restoration project.

While the scenes emerge from Young’s imagination, it’s clear that he consulted Dr. Samuel Hildreth’s Pioneer History for information on Marietta’s founding. We can safely say that for the most part, they are accurate portrayals of those early events, based upon the knowledge we can gather from our founding fathers’ memoirs and documents. The placement of Native Americans as bystanders in several of the paintings, for example, is purely conjectural, but is plausible. We know for certain that Captain Pipe and his fellow Delawares were present on the river bank when the first pioneers arrived here in 1788. We also know that the chiefs met with General Rufus Putnam for treaty talks, and that Native Americans did some trading with the soldiers at Fort Harmar. Young’s depiction of some of the figures’ clothing may be questionable, as far as appropriateness for the period. However, Young gives the viewer a thoughtful look at the early events that shaped our town’s origins, as well as a good sense of the excitement and enthusiasm of the early settlers as they began a new life on the edge of the frontier.

The paintings that Young did for the Ohio Statehouse Rotunda were removed during the renovation of the Statehouse, circa 1992. Today, the Ohio History Connection oversees the care and storage of both the Statehouse murals, as well as the ones from the Chicago World’s Fair. We are fortunate, though, to have Young’s work displayed at City Hall for the public to enjoy, and to remind us of our rich history. Take your kids and grandkids and show them the colorful murals of the story of Marietta’s beginnings!

Judith Piersall is a WCHS member. To learn more about Washington County Historical Society services and membership, call 740-373-1788 or visit wchshistory.org.