Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Marietta (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Little Kennesaw Mountain, Illinois Monument, and Marietta Square. Also, be sure to include Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Marietta (Georgia).
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Little Kennesaw Mountain
Mountain in Georgia. Little Kennesaw Mountain is a mountain in Cobb County, Georgia, northwest of Marietta and south of Kennesaw. It is a sub-peak of Kennesaw Mountain, the site of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in the 1864 Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War.
The defensive-minded Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston constructed a series of trenches from Kennesaw Mountain to Kolb Farm to prevent or delay Union general William T. Sherman's approach towards Atlanta, Georgia. For the purpose of defending the Confederate line, the Confederates constructed Fort McBride here, but Little Kennesaw Mountain experienced only skirmishes, with most of the fighting occurring to the south. Now a part of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, the mountain is part of a popular trail that strings from Burnt Hickory Road to the park visitor center, traversing Pigeon Hill and both mountains.[1]
Illinois Monument
Sculpture by Mario Korbel. The Illinois Monument is a public monument located in the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The monument honors the soldiers from Illinois who fought in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Atlanta campaign of the American Civil War. It is located on Cheatham Hill, the site of intense fighting during the battle, and was dedicated in 1914, on the 50th anniversary of the battle. It was designed by Mario Korbel and James Dibelka.[2]
Marietta Square
Park in Marietta, Georgia. Marietta Square, also called Glover Park, is a park and traditional city center in Marietta, Georgia, United States.[3]
Address: 120 S Park Square NE, 30060 Marietta
Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art
The Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art is an art museum located in Marietta, the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia.
Founded in 1990, the Museum's classical revival building was built in 1910 as the Marietta Post Office. In 1963 it became the main building of the Cobb County Public Library System, which has since moved into a large, modern facility.
The small museum has struggled with financial and other issues; when Donald Keyes resigned as Director in 2003, he was the ninth Director to resign in 13 years.
The building was used to film the courthouse scenes in the 2014 movie Selma.[4]
Address: 30 Atlanta St SE, 30060 Marietta
Marietta Confederate Cemetery
Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia. Marietta Confederate Cemetery is a large Confederate cemetery located in Marietta, Georgia, adjacent to the larger Marietta City Cemetery.
The Marietta Confederate Cemetery is one of the largest burial grounds for Confederate dead. It is the resting place to over 3,000 soldiers from all 13 Confederate states plus Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky.
The cemetery was established in 1863 as a gift from Jane Glover who was the wife of Marietta's first mayor. It sits on the site of a former Baptist church that was later moved to a new location in downtown Marietta and the land was acquired by John Glover – Marietta's first mayor. There was initially an offer to bury Confederate dead along with dead Union soldiers at the Marietta National Cemetery, but the offer was refused because Marietta officials did not want Confederate dead to be buried near Yankee dead.
Soldiers killed in the battles of Chickamauga (in Tennessee and Georgia), Kolb's Farm and Kennesaw Mountain from the Atlanta Campaign are interred there.[5]
Address: North 120 Loop & Cemetery Road, 30067 Marietta
Strand Theatre
Theatre in Marietta, Georgia. The Strand Theatre is a multi-use performing arts and film center in Marietta, Georgia, United States. Originally built in 1935 by the Manning-Winks Theatre Company as an art deco movie palace, it is currently the home of the Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre, a nonprofit arts organization specializing in live theatre, classic movies, concerts, comedy, and other special events.
The theatre closed in 1976, and was re-opened in 2008 as a result of the efforts of the Friends of The Strand, Inc. On October 17, 2017, Earl Smith announced a donation of $500,000 towards the capital campaign in his late wife's name. The theatre was renamed the Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre in her honor.[6]
Address: Marietta, 117 North Park Square
Zion Baptist Church
Baptist church in Marietta, Georgia. The Zion Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia is a Baptist church which was founded in 1866 by African American members of another Baptist church in the city. The current building, built in 1888, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[7]
Address: 165 Lemon Street, Marietta
Marietta National Cemetery
Cemetery. Marietta National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Marietta in Cobb County, Georgia. It encompasses 23.3 acres, and as of the end of 2006, had 18,742 interments. It is closed to new interments, and is now maintained by the new Georgia National Cemetery.[8]
Address: 500 Washington Ave NE, 30060-2102 Marietta
St. James Episcopal Cemetery
Burial ground. St. James' Episcopal Church Cemetery was founded in 1849, as a parish burial ground that was laid out on the furthest corner of the 20-acre St. James' Episcopal Church property, at the corner of Winn Street and what is now Polk Street in Marietta, Georgia. However, much of the space between the cemetery and St. James' is now owned by First United Methodist Church.
The cemetery is completely surrounded by an iron fence. It can be accessed through a gate on Polk Street. The cemetery is open daily, except for major holidays and severe weather events.
Some of the most famous families in Cobb County are represented in this cemetery including the Glovers (John Glover was the first mayor of Marietta and his wife would donate the land for the Confederate Cemetery), Lawrences, Sessions', Whitlocks, Hunts, Schillings, Northcutts, and many other first families. A columbarium and the "Garden of Peace" are located in the southeast corner of the cemetery. While only partially full, all of the columbarium slots and garden tombstones have been sold to living patrons, along with all other burial space in the cemetery. The cemetery was originally mapped in 1955, but the map was revised in 2013.
It is rumored that during the Civil War, slaves were buried in the southwest corner of the cemetery in unmarked graves. However, no evidence proving this has ever been found. Most of the southwest corner of the cemetery is currently taken up by marked graves from the 1960s and 1970s.
Child murder-victim JonBenét Ramsey was interred in Saint James Episcopal Cemetery in Marietta, next to the grave of her mother Patsy Ramsey and her half-sister Elizabeth Pasch Ramsey (daughter of John Bennett Ramsey and his first wife), who died in a 1992 car accident at the age of 22.[9]
Arnoldus Brumby House
The Arnoldus Brumby House is a historic house in Marietta, Georgia, U.S. It was built in the Antebellum Era for a West Point graduate and Confederate colonel. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[10]
Address: 472 Powder Springs Street Southwest, Marietta
Northwest Marietta Historic District
The Northwest Marietta Historic District is a 230-acre historic district in Marietta, Georgia that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It includes Late Victorian, Greek Revival, Plantation Plain, and other architecture.
The district includes an area in downtown Marietta, with the southernmost point being south of Whitlock Avenue on McDonald Street, and runs out Kennesaw Avenue to Noses Creek (just past St. Anne's Rd.) in the northwest.[11]