Memorial to the "Start Westward of the United States"
Sculpted for Marietta's Sesquicentennial by Gutzon Borglum
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Dedicated July 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a tribute to those farsighted pioneers who journeyed here from New England in 1788 and established Marietta as the first permanent settlement in the Northwest Territory under the landmark Ordinance of 1787
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Rededicated July 1988 at the Closing Ceremonies for Marietta's Bicentennial Celebration to the Sesquicentennial Pioneer Caravan and in memory of Edwin “Zeke” Pugh (1917-1988) member of the 1937-1938 Caravan and leader of the 1987-1988 Bicentennial Trekkers.
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Restored as a Bicentennial project through generous contributions from school children in Marietta and Washington County.
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Other contributors to the 1987-1988 restoration:
Northwest Ordinance/U.S. Constitution Bicentennial Commission, U.S. Capitol Bicentennial Christmas Tree Fund, Wayne National Forest, Marian Baesel Schimmel
Sesquicentennial Pioneer Caravan, Ohio Historical Society, Colonial Dames 17th Century, Marietta
Mary Ann Genheimer, Mary Gardner Owen Society, N.S.C.A.R., Marietta Bicentennial Commission
Marker is on Front Street, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
