Things to Do in Marietta, Ohio

Campus Martius Museum

Campus Martius Museum stands on the site of the original stockade built by the Ohio Company during Marietta’s earliest settlement period. Exhibits connect the founding of Marietta with the Northwest Territory, frontier life, migration, and the people who helped establish the community.

The museum also preserves important structures tied to that story, including the Ohio Company Land Office and the Rufus Putnam House. Together, they make Campus Martius a useful starting point for understanding why Marietta holds such an important place in the early history of the Northwest Territory.

Official Campus Martius Museum website →

Ohio River Museum & W.P. Snyder, Jr.

The Ohio River Museum interprets the river culture, transportation, industry, and communities that developed along the Ohio and Muskingum rivers. A major part of that story is the W.P. Snyder, Jr., a historic sternwheel towboat associated with the working-river era.

The museum explains how steam navigation and inland waterways connected towns, moved goods, and shaped regional growth. Because the museum complex has been undergoing redevelopment, visitors should check the official museum website for current access and viewing details before planning a stop.

Official Ohio River Museum website →

Mound Cemetery & Earthworks

Mound Cemetery brings together two very different layers of Marietta history. The cemetery was established around the Great Mound, an ancient Indigenous earthwork preserved by the city’s early settlers, and later became the burial place of many people connected to the community’s founding.

It is especially known for its concentration of Revolutionary War officers. Nearby remnants of Marietta’s larger earthwork landscape add context for visitors interested in archaeology, early American settlement, and the much longer human history of the area.

Official Mound Cemetery website →

The Castle

The Castle is an 1855 Gothic Revival house museum that offers a close look at Victorian-era architecture and domestic life in Marietta. Its tower, decorative details, furnished rooms, and period interpretation give visitors a different view of the city from its frontier-history attractions.

Guided tours and programs connect the house to the families who lived there and to Marietta’s broader civic and social history. It is a strong stop for visitors who enjoy historic homes, architecture, decorative arts, and nineteenth-century local history.

Official The Castle website →

Historic Harmar Village & Harmar Bridge Area

Historic Harmar Village sits across the Muskingum River from downtown and preserves a walkable neighborhood shaped by Marietta’s early river and transportation history. Older buildings, small businesses, riverfront parkland, and views near the Harmar Bridge give the area a distinct feel from the main downtown.

It works well as a slower walking stop rather than a single attraction. Visitors can combine the neighborhood with the riverfront, nearby museums, local dining, and photographs around the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers.

Official Historic Harmar Village website →

Downtown Walking & Riverfront Trails

Marietta’s compact downtown and riverfront make walking the easiest way to explore. Brick streets and preserved nineteenth-century buildings lead naturally toward river views.

The city sits where the Muskingum meets the Ohio, a dramatic meeting that shaped local industry and settlement patterns. Walking lets visitors move easily between small museums, shopfronts, and riverfront greens without driving.

A nearly four-mile paved River Trail follows the levee and waterfront parks through downtown. It links downtown attractions, a boardwalk, aquatics facilities, and neighborhood greenways for continuous movement.

At Harmar the former railroad trestle serves pedestrians and connects across the Muskingum. The trestle’s span can open for river traffic, offering expansive water views that reward brief stops.

Official Marietta walking and biking trails website →