The Capital of Ohio
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a. Columbus is the current capital and the largest city of Ohio. It was founded on February 14, 1812, and became the state capital in 1816 (“Columbus, Ohio”).
b. The layout of Ohio capital was not always in Columbus. The first capital city was Chillicothe. In 1809 the capital was relocated to Zanesville. This was the result of a political favor, which was made “in order to pass a bill that was being debated by the House of Representatives and the Senate” (Herman 471). In 1812 it was decided that the capital should be situated in central Ohio. Columbus was chosen because of its convenient central location and easy access to major transportation routes (primarily rivers), though it was a wilderness area at that time (“Columbus, Ohio”). While the wilderness was cleared, and the capitol was constructed, the capital was removed back to Chillicothe (Herman 320). In 1816, new capitol building of Columbus, located on the southwest corner of the present Statehouse Square, was occupied by the state officials (Herman 590).
c. The present Ohio’s State Capitol construction was begun in 1839, but the process lagged and the building was finished only in 1861 (Barrett 9).
d. Edward Tiffin was the first Ohio governor elected in 1803 (Herman 52).
e. To my mind, Columbus is a perfect example of a capital city. First of all, it is an economical and cultural center of the whole state with biggest population number (“Columbus, Ohio”). In 2006 CNN Money magazine named it among ten best U.S. cities to live in ( HYPERLINK "http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/top100/bigcities.ht ml" "10 Best Big Cities" ).
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Marietta was the first settlement in Ohio established in 1788 (Herman 456). The major reason for its foundation was its location at the confluence of the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskingum_River" \o "Muskingum River" Muskingum and HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio" \o "Ohio" Ohio rivers, which was perfect for settlers to build a stockade for defense. Moreover, such location was favorable for industry and commerce development. In addition, the town area was full of Ohio’s abundant mineral deposits (Herman 16). Thus, the geographical location played the key role in choosing the site for the first town settling. In my opinion, the establishment was successful due to the combination of site’s favorable geographic characteristics and enormous efforts of “46 boat builders, surveyors, and settlers” under the leadership of General Rufus Putnam, who came to establish Marietta as the first permanent United States settlement in the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territory" \o "Northwest Territory" Northwest Territory (Herman 456).
Works Cited
HYPERLINK "http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/top100/bigcities.ht ml" "10 Best Big Cities" . CNN Money, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2012.
Barrett, Richard E. Columbus, Ohio in Vintage Postcards. Portsmouth: Arcadia Publishing, 2004. Print.
“Columbus, Ohio”. Ohio History Central. 1 July 2005. Web. 14 Sept. 2012.
Herman, Jennifer L. Ohio Encyclopedia. State History Publications, 2008. Print.
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