The Ohio Company Land Office is one of the original buildings of the city of

Marietta Marietta may refer to: Places in the United States *Marietta, Jacksonville, Florida *Marietta, Georgia, the largest US city named Marietta *Marietta, Illinois *Marietta, Indiana *Marietta, Kansas *Marietta, Minnesota *Marietta, Mississippi *Mar ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The Office is listed individually in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

and as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the Marietta Historic District. The Land Office was built after

Ohio Company of Associates The Ohio Company of Associates, also known as the Ohio Company, was a land company whose members are today credited with becoming the first non- Native American group to permanently settle west of the Allegheny mountains. In 1788 they establis ...

landed at

in 1788. The Office was built at approximately . In 1791 the building was moved away from the

Muskingum River The Muskingum River (Shawnee: ') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country o ...

so it could be protected by the guns of

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which covers ...

. From this location, Ohio Company surveyors plotted the company's entire purchase in

southeastern Ohio Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, characterized by the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and the Appalachian Plateau. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines th ...

, more than in total, under the direction of

Rufus Putnam Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam (April 9, 1738 – May 4, 1824) was an American military officer who fought during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. As an organizer of the Ohio Company of Associates, he was instrumental ...

as the company's chief. The building is a simple log structure with a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d roof, pierced by a single chimney; one window is set into the side, and the front has space for just one window and the main entrance. Its location on a slope permits the slight exposure of the foundation on one side. Smaller elements include shutters for the windows and a pair of steps that provide access to the main entrance.,

Ohio History Connection Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connec ...

, 2015. Accessed 2016-01-03. As the oldest extant building anywhere in Ohio, the land office had become the focus of significant attention by the opening years of the twentieth century, with organizations such as Marietta's historical society devoting extensive effort to ensure its preservation. The building is now part of the Campus Martius Museum complex.

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Commercial buildings completed in 1788 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Ohio Buildings and structures in Marietta, Ohio Northwest Territory 1788 establishments in the Northwest Territory Houses in Washington County, Ohio Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Ohio Office buildings completed in 1788 Land offices {{WashingtonCountyOH-NRHP-stub