This man of history is the one who blazed the trail from Wheeling to Maysville, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, under a contract with the Government, that for his services in laying out the large highway, he was to receive, at the crossing of every navigable stream, a full section of land at Wheeling one near Lancaster, and one down on the Ohio River across from Maysville, he was given a patent right by the United States of America to a plot of ground, on February 14, 1800, and surveyed the required area which ran Northwardly for the South bank of the old Scioto River, between what are now Bridge and Mill Streets, and Northwardly, almost up to Hopetown.

After the Civil War, Chillicothe's newspapers regularly had communications from citizens and physicians, demanding that the great nuisance of the "Old Bed" had to be abated.

There came a demand for the acquirement of this spot by the city, for the purpose of draining and cleaning up this pestilential and poisonous cesspool.

It appears that out of the virulence of the miasma and much shaking for ague, grew the demand for a clean-up of the unhealthy zone, and contemporaneously there happened to be an abnormal amount of unemployment, so that when the proposition was put to the Council to eradicate the evil, there were willing hands.

A group of artists, preservationists, and an attorney formed a coalition to restore and preserve the building.

Coursework was replaced, bricks were repaired, floors were poured, electricity and water was installed, and the walls were rebuilt.

The Pump House is an example of Victorian Gothic architecture, featuring a large central tower, Palladian windows, common-bond brick, and a low-pitched, hipped slate roof.

There have been a few ideas suggested for the building, such as a military museum or an orangerie, but due to lack of funding nothing has moved forward.

Two historic B&O Railroad caboose cars are on display in Yoctangee Park bordering Water Street.

An annex to the original Yoctangee Park area provides 40+ acres of soccer and baseball/softball fields to the north, and a boat access to the river on the south end.

It typically features Native American Music, Dancing, Food, Arts & Crafts, Story Telling, Educational Demonstrations and much more.