Barges still carry coal on the wide Ohio River, and the Muskingum is a National Navigation Historic District by virtue of its working 19th-century dams and locks, opening and closing for pleasure cruises on the Valley Gem, Marietta's old-time sternwheeler. During the Ohio River Sternwheel Festival in September dozens of paddle-wheelers tie up at Marietta while bands play, fireworks pop and fans await the pageant's Queen Genevieve. The Sweet Corn Festival, in July, features roasted ears and feed corn bag-tossing tournaments.
 
The first permanent settlement in the Northwest Territories, Marietta was founded in 1788 by a group of New Englanders, many of them War of Independence veterans whose story is told at the Campus Martius Museum. The tidy, neatly planned downtown, these days adorned with hanging flower baskets, long ago sprouted storefronts—Schafer Leather opened as a harness maker in 1867—and distinguished residences like the Castle of Marietta, a Gothic Revival mansion open to the public.
 
You can learn about early 20th-century burial rites and embalming techniques at the Peoples Mortuary Museum. For admirers of ancient history, the Mound Cemetery, laid out around a conical earthwork, is part of a network of nearby Native American archaeological sites dating between 100 B.C. and A.D. 400, brought to public attention by the Smithsonian Institution in 1848.
 
Front Street is a monument to Midwestern resourcefulness in Marietta, Ohio, the first settlement of the Northwest Territories. (Billy Delfs)
Many small American towns have died, and some have been reborn, but neither of those stories describes this place. Harley Noland, a city councilman-at-large, says "Marietta has always been a stable place." Long may it endure.