Marietta. Congress, in 1796, made a grant of' 

 this tract of land to Ebenezer Zane, as a com- 

 pensation for opening a road from Wheeling to 

 Limestone, and establishing and maintaining fer- 

 ries over the rivers on this route. Col. Zane 

 laid out this town in 1800. Its progress was slow, 

 and there were few houses with either brick or 

 stone chimneys, until 1*805. Since that time its 

 improvements have been nearly equal to its local 

 advantages. It is situated on a bend of the river 

 opposite to the great falls, and being on elevated 

 ground, has a variegated and commanding pros- 

 pect. It contains a considerable number of large 

 and convenient houses ; and the buildings are 

 annually increasing. The court-house is nearly 

 completed, built with beautiful free stone and in 

 an elegant style. The seat of the State govern- 

 ment is now removed to this town, where it is 

 expected it will be permanent. The post-office 

 in this town is a distributing office, from which 

 mails are sent off in different directions. On the 

 west side of the river is Springfield, containing 

 about fifty houses, and some of them handsome 

 buildings. There are four or five stores of dif- 

 ferent kinds of goods. Here Licking Creek dis- 

 charges its waters from the westward into the 

 .Muskingum, after meandering through an exten- 

 sive country of the first rate lands. About four 

 miles from the mouth of this creek is a beautiful 

 cataract formed by a rock extending across the 

 stream at right angles, and producing a fall of 

 seven and an half feet, while the water above and 



