Washington County, Ohio History

The earliest means of communication afforded the settlers of Marietta were messengers and expresses to the east. The first mail route which extended across the Alleghenys was in 1786, but this ran only to Pittsburg. In 1794 there was a route established from Pittsburg to Limetown (now Maysville,) Kentucky, and to Fort Washington (now Cincinnati) by the way of Washington, Pennsylvania, and Wheeling.

It was after the establishment of this route and in consequence of it that the first post office was established at Marietta. In May, 1794, the Postmaster General, Timothy Pickering, wrote to General Putnam, and in his letter stated: "Marietta will be a station for the boats to stop at as they pass, and doubtless it will be convenient to have a post office there. Herewith I send a packet to you to be put into the hands of the person you judge most suitable for postmaster."

In accordance General Putnam selected as the first postmaster of Marietta Return J. Meigs, Jr., who twelve years later became Postmaster General of the United States for nine years. It was thus that in 1794, a post office was organized, and, with the exception of the Masonic lodge, is the oldest institution in Marietta.

The people of Marietta at that time were dependent upon the route already described for their mail. The mail was carried to Pittsburg, thence to Wheeling by land and from thence to Cincinnati by river. This gave the people of Marietta a mail every two or three weeks from their friends in New England, as it required about six days to go from Wheeling to Cincinnati and from twelve to fourteen days to return.

In 1794 was established the first mail route in the present limits of Ohio. It extended from Marietta to Zanesville. The post left Marietta every Thursday at 1 o'clock P. M. and was scheduled to arrive at Zanesville the following Monday at 8 P. M. Returning the mail was to leave Zanesville at 6 A. M. every Tuesday and arrive at Marietta at 6 P. M. on Wednesday. This afforded one mail each way once a week. The first contractor was Daniel Converse. This route was discontinued in 1804, but was the only one in the state in 1880. In 1802 was established a route from Marietta to Chillicothe.

The following has been the succession of postmasters in Marietta from 1794 to the present:

1794 May	1795 October	Return J. Meigs, Jr.
1795 October	1801	Josiah Munro
1801	1802	David Putnam
1802	1804	Griffin Greene
1804	1806	Philip Greene
1806	1815	Griffin Greene, Jr.
1815	1818	Samuel Holt
1818	1825 January	Henry P. Wilcox
1825 January	1825 August	David Morris
1825 August	1829	Daniel H. Buell
1829	1841	A. V. D. Joline
1841	1850	A. L. Guitteau
1850	1853	F. A. Wheeler
1853	1857	Nathaniel Bishop
1857	1861	A. W. McCormack
1861	1870	Sala Bosworth
1870	1878	W. B. Mason
1878	1886	S. L. Grosvener
1886	1890	E. S. Nye
1890	1894	E. R. Alderman
1894	1898	Henry Roeser
1898		M. M. Rose