If you could time travel back to Marietta in 1858 you would likely be a little confused about where you were, especially if you went to Harmar.

Oh, you would recognize many of the buildings, and the rivers. You would be confused because many of the streets have changed names over the years.

If you were starting from the east side of the Muskingum River, you would be unable to take the Putnam Street Bridge for most of the century. The first of five Putnam Street bridges would not be built until 1880. Before that you could take the ferry across that connected the two sides of the river at the same spot.

When you arrived in Harmar, you would not be on Putnam Avenue. You would be on North Street. Putnam Avenue would come much later. If you turned left, you would be on Second Street, not to be confused with Second Street on the east side of the river.

A block away you would get to the central business district of Harmar, but you would not be on Maple Street, because it was called Church Street at the time — likely because of the Harmar Congregational Church a block west at the corner of Church and Franklin streets. The church building survives today.

Continue down Second Street and you will arrive at Harmar Street. This is not the Harmar Street that you would know from 2024.

This Harmar Street ran east-west and ended at the Market House at Harmar Square. The Harmar Street of 1858 is now Market Street, so named because of where it started.

Continue one more block and you will get to Ohio Street. Don’t confuse it with the street that runs along the Ohio River levee on the other side of the Muskingum. This street in Harmar is now Virginia Street.

It shows up on maps as late as 1875, which means that the street was renamed Virginia Street long after the land across the Ohio River became WEST Virginia.

In 1858 Franklin was the western-most street running north-south.

By 1875, Main Street was added, although the railroad down the middle was not yet there. Later it would be renamed Harmar Street following the renaming of Harmar Street to Market Street.

The part of Harmar along the Ohio River in 1858 included the number streets of Second through Sixth. Unlike 2024, they were named differently from the streets that they aligned with north of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad.

By 1875 Lancaster and Wood Street appeared on maps with an unnamed road connecting to points further up Harmar Hill.

For much of the 1800s Harmar would operate as its own community.

It was split from Marietta from 1837 until 1890 when the two towns became one again. Much of the growth in Harmar occurred during this period and avoiding duplicating street names in Marietta was not necessary.

A lot of the streets were likely renamed to avoid confusion after the merger of the two towns. The renaming of North Street to Putnam Avenue may have simply been a continuation of the east side street, or it may have been to honor Douglas Putnam who had built the large mansion at the end of the street in 1859.

If you time travel to Harmar in 1875 can you pay a visit to William Smith on Lancaster Street? I never met him, but the Smith Street that runs next to where he lived is my favorite name for a street in Marietta.

Art Smith is online manager of The Times, he can be reached at asmith@mairettatimes.com.