A Tour of Marietta

The Proud History of the Marietta Fire Museum In the early days of Marietta, fire safety was left in the hands of volunteers. The city relied on bucket brigades, which were teams of volunteers who would pass buckets of water hand-to-hand from a water source to the fire to fight any blazes. After a massive fire in 1854 destroyed most of Marietta Square, it was clear the town needed more serious fire protection. ... Read More

House Time’s Long Gone In August of 1839, a Philadelphian merchant named William Root moved south to Georgia. Root was one of Marietta’s founding citizens and opened the town’s first drug store. After marrying Hannah Remer Simpson in 1840, Root built his family home on the corner of present-day Church and Lemon streets. Today, this house is the oldest wood-frame house still standing in Marietta. A Tour of ... Read More

Memories Are Made at Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre On Sept. 24, 1935, all of Marietta came out to the premiere of “Top Hat,” a film starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. The town gathered at The Strand Theatre in Marietta Square, a brand-new art deco movie palace. With seating for 1000, as well as heating and air conditioning, The Strand was the most modern theatre outside of Atlanta. Despite the ... Read More

Echoes of the Past "To the 3000 soldiers in this cemetery, from every Southern State, who fell on Georgia soil, in defense of Georgia rights and Georgia homes." –Inscription on a monument in Marietta Confederate Cemetery In September of 1863, Dr. William H. Miller, a Confederate surgeon from Kentucky, became the first person to be buried in the Marietta Confederate Cemetery. The cemetery was established as a ... Read More

What Happened to Marietta’s Open Container District? Early this past spring, Marietta was abuzz with the prospect of approving an open-container district in Marietta Square. Open-container districts, often referred to as entertainment districts, allow patrons of legal drinking age to carry open alcoholic drinks from restaurants within a designated area. Now we’re nearing the end of 2019 and open adult beverages ... Read More

The Most Haunted Place in Marietta The South is full of ghosts. Countless bloody battles during the Civil War caused the spirits of soldiers from both sides to be trapped in limbo forever. At least, that’s what the stories say. But even the most hardened skeptic will have a hard time not believing the stories when visiting Marietta’s most haunted building, Kennesaw House. Built in 1845, Kennesaw House is one ... Read More

A Tour of Marietta When Spanish explorers were first making their way through North America in 1567, they heard a tale of a far-off mountain: “Very high, shining when the sun set like a fire.” These stories would bring them to the magnificent Stone Mountain in what would one day become Georgia. Standing at 1,686 feet above sea level, Stone Mountain has been called the largest piece of exposed granite in the ... Read More

An Enduring Legacy at the Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum It’s hard to say exactly what makes a story everlasting, but popularity certainly has something to do with it. When it comes to popularity, few stories have garnered more enduring popularity than Margaret Mitchell’s literary classic “Gone with the Wind.” Mitchell’s book about southern belle turned industry titan, Scarlett O’Hara, was published in ... Read More

167 Years of Glover Park Marietta Square is often called the “Heart of Marietta,” but Glover Park, located in the center of the Square, may be the city’s soul. For almost 170 years, Glover Park has been a place where families picnic under the many trees, children explore the playground, musicians play on the bandstand, and couples fall in love by the fountain. Generations of Marietta citizens have made memories in ... Read More

When giving directions, some cities rely on street signs, far-off mountains, or Google Maps to get around. In Marietta, we have something far better: the Big Chicken. Proudly roosting at 12 Cobb Parkway, the Big Chicken has guided hungry Georgians to delicious fried chicken for over five decades. The restaurant, which today is a KFC, originally opened in 1956 as a local eatery called Johnny Reb’s ... Read More