Rufus Putnam House

The Rufus Putnam House is a wooden residence with oak timber framing assembled in 1788 using diagonal braced construction techniques. The structure is integrated into the Campus Martius Museum at the corner of 2nd and Washington Streets.

General Rufus Putnam built the house in 1788 as part of the Campus Martius fortification during the early settlement of Ohio by the Ohio Company of Associates. This founding marked the beginning of European settlement in the region.

The house holds objects from pioneer families including the Meigs, Fearing, Devol, Blennerhassett, Mason, Hildreth, and Sprague collections. These items show how early settlers in the region lived and what mattered to them.

The house is housed within the Campus Martius Museum and can be visited as part of a museum visit. Visitors should explore the area around the street intersection to understand the historical context of the early settlement.

Each wall section was prefabricated on the ground, marked with Roman numerals, and assembled only after the frame was raised. This method was an early form of prefab construction and shows the practical building techniques used by frontier settlers.

Location: Marietta

GPS coordinates: 39.42125,-81.46111

Latest update: December 12, 2025 17:42