Description
- 3 Ohio Statehood
- U.S. #1018
- Issue Date: March 2, 1953
U.S. #1018 commemorates the 150th anniversary of Ohios admission to the Union. The stamp pictures an outline of the state behind the state seal. Sixteen stars line the sides, representing the 16 states added to the Union before Ohio, and a 17th star appears above the seal, representing Ohio. Ohios Road to Statehood Ohio became part of the Northwest Territory in 1787. That year the Northwest Ordinance was passed, which provided for granting Ohio, and other territories, statehood. On April 7, 1788, the Ohio Company of Associates established Marietta, the first permanent European settlement in Ohio. In July 1788, Marietta became the first capital in the Northwest Territory. Veterans of the American Revolution were rewarded for their service with land grants. Many of these veterans began settling along the Ohio River. In 1800, the Division Act created the Indiana Territory out of the western part of the Northwest Territory, which was given the new capital of Chillicothe. In 1802, a convention met in Chillicothe to create a constitution in preparation for statehood. On March 1, 1803, Ohio became the 17th state to join the Union. The capital city alternated several times during a relatively short period of time. First it was Chillicothe, then Zanesville, then Chillicothe again, and then Columbus the present-day capital. The Purchase of 1803 gave the U.S. control of the Mississippi River. This meant that goods from Ohio could be shipped down the river to the port of New Orleans. This trade was further enhanced by the introduction of steamboats. The first steamboat to travel the Ohio River was the New Orleans in 1811. In 1818, the steamboat Walk-in-the-Water became the first steamboat to sail on Lake Erie. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, and the Ohio and Erie Canal in 1832, further enhanced Ohios economic growth. However, the railroads soon came to replace these waterways as the primary means of transporting goods.