Ohio History Journal

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BUILDING A COMMERCIAL SYSTEM

BUILDING A COMMERCIAL SYSTEM.

 

 

 

FRANK P. GOODWIN.

It is the purpose of this paper to trace the commercial devel-

opment of the Miami Country1, from the date of settlement to

the beginning of the steamboat era in 1817. It is presented as

a representative study of commercial growth under economic

conditions that were colonial in character. The history of the

locality has been used to illustrate principles of early com-

mercial development common to the Ohio Valley.       Within

that region were five leading communities each of which was

economically a colonial unit during the early stages of its devel-

opment.   They were the Pittsburg District, the Blue Grass

Region, the Marietta District, the Scioto Valley, and the Miami

Country. Of the five, the Miami Country most nearly presented

all phases of the subject in its development. With the possible

exception of the Pittsburg District, each had its economic basis

in agriculture, each developed as a separate colonial unit, and in

each a chief town grew up that was the commercial center of the

region. In addition to these characteristics, the chief town of

the Miami Country, because of its more favorable location and

natural advantages, became later the metropolis of the entire

valley.  It would seem, therefore, that the Miami Country

would furnish the best view-point for the study of commer-

cial development in the Ohio Valley.

When the period of retarded development in the Miami

Country had come to an end in 1795 and settlers commenced to

occupy the land, there soon began the production of a surplus of

agricultural products for which they were anxious to find a

market. This surplus was the basis of the early commerce of the

 

The Miami Country includes the valleys of the Great Miami and

Little Miami Rivers. It has an area of about 5000 square miles, and em-

braces a large portion of southwestern Ohio and a small bit of Indiana.

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