Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1929-12-26
ONE OF NATURES BEAUTY
SPOTS

ONE or NATURES BEAUTY
SPOTS
The following appeared in the
Osborn, O.. Weekly Herald:
While driving through the beautl-
full Musl,ingum river valley, last
week, the writer had an opportunity
to gather some interesting facts.
The Muskingum valley, between
GAINESVILLE and Marietta, is, without
doubt. one of the real beauty spots
of the Buckeye state The river it
self is thing of beauty, as It grace
fully winds its way southward to
southern border line of the state.
The Muskingum is a wind ng, tor
tuous river. easily travelling twice
the distance in actual mileage that
is necessary to reach the Ohio.
Flanked on either side by the beau
tiful. mostly wooded hills of Mus
kingum, Morgan and Washington
counties, the river with its back
ground of green hills, is a thing of
genuine beauty at this time of the
year A well-kept road, state high
way No. 81, follows the river prac-
tically the whole distance from
GAINESVILLE to Marietta, approximate
y g N les.
The Muskingum valley is interest
ing, too, from historic view
point Marietta, of course, usually
considered the oldest town in Ohio,
was settled because of the juncture
at that point of the Muskingum and
! Ohio rivers Up the Muskingum
the early settlers must have gone,
away back about the middle of the
! eighteenth century, exploring the
river valley, and later on, building
the now prosperous and growins5
city of GAINESVILLE. The city of Ma
rietta abounds in points of historic
! interest. Here, too, is located what
| is said to be the largest elm tree in
/ America. 1t is located on the main
street leading into the city, and on
! highway No. 81. 1t is an enormous
specimen of natures handiwork
along the line of trees, though for
a number of years the city has
waged a strenuous fight to keep it
alive by means of modern tree
surgery.
Another place of interest along
I
above McConnelsville, where the
Confederate cavalry leader, General
Morgan, crossed the river, during the
Civil war. 1t was during Morgan's s
daring raid in VIII ch he pierced
deep into the northern territory,
throwing panic into the hearts Of
many people in Ohio, Kentucky and
other states. General Morgan
crossed the Muskingum here near
McConnelsville, with the Union cav
airy in hot pursuit. He was in
such haste, in fact, that three of
his men, drowned while crossing
the river, were left by Morgan to
be rescued and buried by the people
/ living in that vicinity. Their bury
! ing places are now marked by a
simple stone, erected there by the
people whom these men were fight
| ing during the War of the Rebellion.
McConnelsville, town of about
/ 500 people, the county seat of
Morgan county, is at once a beauti-
full and outstanding village. In
the village of McConnelsville is
a public school that is exceptional
In scholarship, last May, the eighth
!
! highest of any school in Ohio. The
! year before the school stood third.
In the McConnelsville high school
special emphasis is placed on liter
ary work. AS a result, their liter
airy efforts are second to none. Ex-
! ceptional pride is shown by all OF
the 200 students in upholding the
honor and standing of the school
| III this respect.
Another achievement that town
and county point to with pride is
the maintenance of the MuSkingum
Valley Chautauqua. This is an in
dependent Chautauqua of more than
25 years standing. A large perma-
nent building has been erected for
the purpose. This seats upwards of
900 people. The Chautauqua is
of 10 days duration, and the build
ing is nearly always crowded to ca
pacity. When one reflects that Nor
gan county has a population of only
$4,000, it is readily seen how
strong a hold the Chautauqua has
taken on those people Such at.
fractions as Billy Sunday, Ruth
Bryan owen civilian Jennings
Ian and other lecturers and enter
tainers of national reputation APP
pear each year on the program.
Every year since it's inception the
Chautauqua committee has reported
a balance in the treasury, slight at
times, but always a balance.
These are merely few of the
impressions gained while making a
hasty drive through the Muskingum
valley. To anyone wanting two
day vacation drive, we can think OF
none more beautiful and restful
than this one.
Successful Cooperative Marketing
While making the drive through
the Muskingum valley, as outlined
above, we found some other inter-
esting facts. The Muskingum val
ley is virtually one great, contin-
uous garden, or truck patch, from
point near Beverly down to Mariet-