The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 118

The Cincinnati Enquirer 4 Sunday, August 31, 2003 i ft .1 vultfV it I I mm mum IT irii lilt uA. the Ohio and Muskingum rivers Across the Ohio River in Boaz, 4k ffV' fUllC 'iilii i lir til K--- Ill JOURNEY Getting there: From 1-275 in Cincinnati, take Ohio 32 east Near Athens, Ohio 32 joins with U.S. 50. Take the bypass around Athens, heading east to Belpre. In Belpre, take the Virginia Street exit to access Ohio 7 north into Marietta.

In Marietta, Ohio 7 takes a sharp left turn and becomes Gilman Avenue. Continue to the stoplight and turn right on the Putnam Bridge to cross the Muskingum River into downtown Marietta. A right turn on Front Street will take you to the Ohio River levee. To explore the West Virginia side of the Ohio River, take the Williams-town Bridge. Take W.Va.

14 south to Henderson Hall in Boaz. Information MariettaWashington County Convention and Visitors Bureau: 316 Third Marietta, OH 45750, (800) 288-2577; www.mariettaohio.org and www.historicrivercities.com. Valley Gem stemwheeler 123 Strecker Hill, Marietta, OH 45750, (740) 373-7862; www.valleygem stemwheeler.com. Trips on the hour, 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

$5.50, children $3. Buffet Dinner Cruise: p.m. Saturday. Call for reservations and prices. Fall Foliage Tours, three to four hours, 10 a.m.

and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in October. $15, children $9. Trolley Tours: 127 Ohio Marietta, OH 45750, (740) 374-2233 (Levee House Cafe). Tours originate at the cafe, Ohio and Second streets.

$7.50, seniors (55 and over) $7, children 5-12 $5. Times vary seasonally. September tours: 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.

Sunday. Ohio River Museum, Washington and Front streets, Marietta, OH 45750. Campus Martius Museum, Second and Washington streets, Marietta, OH 45750, (800) 860-0145; www. ohiohistory.org. Hours through November 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Wednesday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Closed holidays. $5, children 6-12 $1.25. Henderson Hall: Route 2, Box 103, Williamstown, WV 26187, (304) 375-2129.

Open 1-4 p.m. June-September. $4, children 6-12 $2. Events Friday-next Sunday, Ohio River Stemwheeler Festival. Oct.

4-5, Lowell Oktoberfest, Buell Island, Lowell, Ohio. Information for both events: (800) 288-2577. Continued from previous page and encloses Gen. Rufus Putnam's two-story log home the only structure remaining from the original Campus Martius fortification. Behind this museum is the Ohio Co.

Land Office, where company officers allotted deeds and drew some of the earliest maps of the Northwest Territory. The Ohio Co. was created by Revolutionary War veterans from New England who decided to seek their fortunes in the new "Ohio Country" by settling at the junction of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, an area praised by George Washington, who had surveyed the area as a young man. The Indian Wars (1790-94) turned Campus Martius from a civilian fortification into a refuge for settlers. The museum is an interpretive center for the history of settlement, with extensive displays of tools, furnishings and other artifacts.

As the first organized settlement in the Northwest Territory, Marietta grew quickly. The Muskingum River offered access to the nation's interior as the largest river lying solely within Ohio. By 1841, a system of 10 dams and 11 locks connected the Muskingum River to the Ohio and Erie Canal in Dresden. Slavery just across border Across the river, Virginians expanded their holdings. Advised by Washington, a family friend, three sons of the Henderson family carved plantations out of the wilderness.

At beautiful Henderson Hall in what is now Boaz, W.Va., you can see the original small cabin and observe how it was expanded into a two-story wood home (1836), and then the elegant brick Italian-ate villa-style mansion (1859) that has become a storehouse of history. This was a family home and as such is a layering of the various generations that have lived here," says owner, Michael Rolston. The parlor contains everything from the original wallpaper to the current photographs that are lined up on the piano." Rolston's great-great grandparents, George Washington Henderson and Elizabeth Ann Tomlinson Henderson, built Henderson Hall as the centerpiece of their plantation. Many of the New Englanders who had settled on the Ohio side were staunch abolitionists and conductors on the Underground Railroad who helped slaves escape from the plantations on the then-Western Virginia side. 3 The Valley Gem stemwheeler travels foliage tours are available.

Washington County has 16 documented Underground Railroad stations, including Belpre's Jonathan Stone House (1798), an Underground Railroad station from 1810 to 1861. In Marietta, the walls of the Levee House Cafe are covered with Underground Railroad-related documents and displays during the summer. During other seasons, the walls showcase the work of area artists. Fall is a great time to visit Marietta. "It's festival time," says Noland.

In addition to the Sternwheel Festival, he adds, "the area had a lot of German settlers and various communities celebrate Oktober-fest the old-fashioned way." 'aii at. I IIMI of H'lltlr it (IE (T i Photos by BECKY LINHARDT on the weekends. Dinner and fall W.Va., is Henderson Hall, the i I i I i --i centerpiece of a former plantation. The hall began as a cabin and was expanded into a two-story wood home and then a brick mansion. Family heirlooms (left) are displayed inside, and the parlor has the original wallpaper.

II If titl Mid Irrtf TT Visitors to the Sternwheel Festival can learn more about their favorite steamboats at the Ohio River Museum..