We took a couple days off from our virtual Ohio travels, but tonight we finally leave Portsmouth and head about 40 miles north up the Scioto River to the seat of Ross County-- Primum Capitolium Ohioensis

For those of you who didn’t take Latin in high school, that means “Ohio’s First Capital.” So, if you can remember your Ohio history section from 3rd grade, you know we must be in Chillicothe.

Like Portsmouth, the history of the Chillicothe area goes back thousands of years. The Adenas & Hopewells called this place home for centuries & later it was home to the Shawnee. The area is home to the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, which contains mounds & earthworks

Modern Chillicothe was founded in 1796 by Nathaniel Massie, a Virginian surveyor. I’ve been learning that most of the early settlers in southern Ohio came from Virginia as opposed to here in northern Ohio where they came mostly from Connecticut or other parts of New England or NY

It seems like you can still feel those influences today, and explains why northern Ohio and southern Ohio feel so different from each other. The cities even look different in the way they're constructed. Many northern OH cities are centered around a New England-style town green,

whereas that doesn't seem to be the case in southern Ohio cities.

Anyway, Massie and his party laid out the town and called it “Chillicothe,” a name derived from the Shawnee word “Chalagwatha,” which means town or gathering. The lots for sale in new the town were advertised in newspapers in Virginia and Kentucky.

Two Virginians that came to Chillicothe were Thomas Worthington & Edward Tiffin (those names should sound familiar) & they were instrumental in the push for Ohio’s statehood. A constitutional convention was held in 1802 & on March 1, 1803, Ohio became the 17th state.

Chillicothe served as the first capital of Ohio from 1803-1810, and then again from 1812-1816, when it was moved to Columbus. The Ross County Courthouse served as the capitol building, which was demolished in the 1850s, but a replica was built down the street in the 1940s

You're probably asking: Where was the state capital located between 1810-1812? Well, it was in Zanesville. But don't worry, we'll visit there another time to learn more about that. https://twitter.com/TomHorsman/status/1196853243713925120?s=20

The Great Seal of the State of Ohio was also adopted at this time, and it’s said that the seal depicts the view of Sugarloaf Mountain & Sand Hill from Thomas Worthington’s estate, although the story is apparently apocryphal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_Ohio

The Ohio & Erie Canal came through Chillicothe in 1831, & the railroad in 1851, which led to a lot of economic growth in the city. This is also the same period when the city’s population exploded. The city’s population has been on the decline though since the 1960s.

A striking thing about Chillicothe is the Greek Revival architecture in the city—most notably the Ross County Courthouse, which was built in 1858 and is one of the oldest county courthouses in the state of Ohio. It sits on the old site of Ohio’s first state capitol. She's a beaut

There are a lot of cool old buildings in Chillicothe, like the Canal Warehouse which dates from 1830 and was built right along the Ohio Canal. It's one of the best preserved old Ohio Canal warehouses in the state

Another cool one is the Adena Mansion, which was built as the estate for Thomas Worthington in 1806 (super old for Ohio). The architect was Benjamin Latrobe, & if that name sounds familiar, it’s because he was also the architect of the US Capitol in DC, among many other buildings

Chillicothe has a beautiful downtown too. It almost feels like a city in Virginia, as opposed to one in Ohio.

Although a bit tired-looking, I think the streetscape is pretty nice overall downtown, albeit the streets are way too wide. I also like the city branding on the parking signs & the pole banners

Here's a cool shot from the 1950s of the county courthouse looking down Paint Street.

Water Street serves as the northern boundary of the downtown and on the other side of Water is Bicentennial Park, which sits between downtown and the Scioto River. Looks like a nice park.

Let's take Bridge Street across the river to check out what's over there

Whoops, let's turn around.

Just to the south of downtown is Chillicothe's Old Residential District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was some great residential streets with old homes that date from the early-mid 1800s

For a small city, it looks like the Chillicothe Transit System provides decent bus service. Buses run from 6am-10pm Mon-Fri and 10am-6pm on Saturday & they run on 1 hour frequency. It’s no Sandusky Transit, obviously, but that service is better than a lot of other places in Ohio.

Like Portsmouth, Chillicothe is part of @GreaterOhio's Reinvention Cities Network. The city has a long history of manufacturing, most notably in paper, which has declined since the mid-20th century, & the city has thus had some struggles https://www.greaterohio.org/reinvention-cities

And of course, here's the Chillicothe city flag. It's not awful. The red circle represents Ohio, and the C obviously stands for Chillicothe. The star symbolizes its status as the first capital and the blue line represents the Scioto River.

I like how the city's brand and logo incorporates the elements from the flag. It's a sharp look. They also have a decent city website, especially compared to some other smaller cities in Ohio (or even some larger cities, *cough* Cleveland *cough*). https://www.chillicothe.com/ 

Chillicothe looks like a cool city, and it has some great Ohio history. I can't wait to make a real visit one day.
(I also finally learned how to spell Chillicothe correctly after making this thread.)