Marietta is located in central Cobb County, Georgia, United States, and is
the county's seat and largest city. As of the 2010 census, the city had a
total population of 56,579. The 2013 estimate is 59,089, making it one of the
Atlanta metropolitan area's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest
of the principal cities of the Atlanta metropolitan statistical area.
History = Etymology =
The origin of the name is uncertain. It is believed that the city was named for
Mary Cobb, the wife of U.S. Senator and Superior Court judge Thomas Willis Cobb.
Judge Cobb is the namesake of the county.
= Early settlers = Homes were built by early settlers near
the Cherokee town of Big Shanty prior to 1824. The first plat was laid out in
1833. Like most towns, Marietta had a square in the center with a courthouse.
The Georgia General Assembly legally recognized the community on December 19,
1834. Built in 1838, Oakton House is the
oldest continuously occupied residence in Marietta. The original barn, milk
house, smokehouse, and wellhouse remain on the property. The spectacular gardens
contain the boxwood parterre from the 1870s. Oakton served as Major General
Loring's headquarters during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain in 1864.
Marietta was initially selected as the hub for the new Western and Atlantic
Railroad, and business boomed. By 1838, roadbed and trestles had been built
north of the city. However, in 1840, political wrangling stopped construction
for a time. In 1842, the railroad's new management decided to move the hub from
Marietta to an area that would become Atlanta. Nonetheless, in 1850, when the
railroad began operation, Marietta shared in the resulting prosperity.
Businessman and politician John Glover arrived in 1848. A popular figure,
Glover was elected mayor when the city incorporated in 1852. Another early
resident was Dr. Carey Cox, who promoted a "water cure", which developed into a
spa that attracted patients to the area. The Cobb County Medical Society
recognizes him as the county's first physician.
The Georgia Military Institute was built in 1851, and the first bank opened in
1855. During the 1850s, fire destroyed much of the city on three separate
occasions. = Civil War =
By the time the Civil War began in 1861, Marietta had recovered from the fires.
In April 1862, James Andrews, a civilian working with the Union Army, came to
Marietta, along with a small party of Union soldiers dressed in civilian
clothing. The group spent the night in the Fletcher House hotel located
immediately in front of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Andrews and his men,
who later became known as the Andrews Raiders, planned to seize a train and
proceed north toward the city of Chattanooga, destroying the railroad on
their way. They hoped, in so doing, to isolate Chattanooga from Atlanta and
bring about the downfall of the Confederate stronghold. The Raiders
boarded a waiting train on the morning of April 12, 1862, along with other
passengers. Shortly thereafter, the train made a scheduled stop in the town
of Big Shanty, now known as Kennesaw. When the other passengers got off the
train for breakfast, Andrews and the Raiders stole the engine and the car
behind it, which carried the fuel. The engine, called The General, and Andrews'
Raiders had begun the episode now known as the Great Locomotive Chase. Andrews
and the Raiders failed in their mission. Andrews and all of his men were caught
within two weeks, including two men who had arrived late and missed the
hijacking. All were tried as spies, convicted, and hanged.
General William Tecumseh Sherman invaded the town during the Atlanta Campaign in
the summer of 1864. In November 1864, General Hugh Kilpatrick set the town
ablaze, the first strike in Sherman's March to the Sea. Sherman's troops
crossed the Chattahoochee River at a shallow section known as the Palisades,
after burning the Marietta Paper Mills near the mouth of Sope Creek.
The Marietta Confederate Cemetery, with the graves of over 3,000 Confederate
soldiers killed during the Battle of Atlanta, is located in the city.
In 1892, the city established a public school system. It included a high school
for white students and a separate high school for blacks.
= 20th century = Leo Frank was lynched at 1200 Roswell
Road just east of Marietta on August 17, 1915. Frank, a Jewish-American engineer
and superintendent of the National Pencil Company in Atlanta, had been
convicted on August 25, 1913, for the murder of one of his factory workers,
13-year-old Mary Phagan. The murder and trial, sensationalized in the local
press, portrayed Frank as depraved, and captured the public's attention. Raised
in New York, Frank was also vilified as a representative of northern capitalism.
An eleventh-hour commutation of Frank's death sentence to life imprisonment
created great local outrage. A mob, systematically organized for the
purpose, abducted Frank from prison, drove him to Marietta, and lynched him.
The ring leaders of the abduction included past, current, and future,
elected local, county and state officials. There were two state
legislators, the mayor, a former governor, a clergyman, two former
Superior Court justices, and an ex-sheriff. The consensus of researchers
on the subject is that Frank was wrongly convicted. The Frank case drew attention
to antisemitism in the United States and led to the founding of the
Anti-Defamation League. Phagan was buried at the Marietta City Cemetery,
while Frank was buried in Queens, New York.
In 1942, Eddie Rickenbacker visited the area in order to decide where to place a
Bell Bomber Plant. Marietta was chosen. The plant eventually became Lockheed
Martin. In the late 1960s, an amendment was
passed to the Georgia State Constitution, giving home rule to the
159 counties in Georgia. Led by Ernest Barrett, the first county commission
voted to demolish the historic county courthouse, which was located on the
northeast corner of Roswell Street and East Park Square since 1888. This loss
is now regarded as one of the county's biggest mistakes, and state law now
requires a county-wide referendum before destroying historic county courthouses.
Other historic buildings, such as the Works Progress Administration building,
were also torn down at the time. The Glover Locomotive Works, which had been
abandoned, was also torn down in the late 1990s despite its historic
significance. As of 2010, another courthouse is under construction for the
superior courts, adapting some minor design elements of the demolished
courthouse. Incorporated in 1993, Theatre in the
Square was a year-round professional theater, that produced a five-show
subscription season as well as summer and holiday shows. It ceased operations
in 2012. The city constructed and operated
Marietta FiberNet, a fiber optic network for about $35 million in the late 1990s.
In 2004, it sold the network to American Fiber Systems for $11 million.
Geography Marietta is located near the center of
Cobb County, between Kennesaw to the northwest and Smyrna to the southeast.
U.S. Route 41 and State Route 3 run through the city northeast of downtown
as Cobb Parkway, and Interstate 75 runs parallel to it through the eastern part
of Marietta, with access from exits 261, 263, 265, and 267. Downtown Atlanta is
20 miles to the southeast, and Cartersville is 24 miles to the
northwest. According to the United States Census
Bureau, Marietta has a total area of 23.2 square miles, of which 23.1 square
miles is land and 0.077 square miles, or 0.38%, is water.
= Climate = Marietta has a humid subtropical
climate. Marietta falls under the USDA 7b Plant
Hardiness zone. Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 58,748 people, 23,895 households, and
13,022 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,684.1
people per square mile. There were 25,227 housing units at an average
density of 1,152.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 52.7%
White, 31.5% African American, 0.5% Native American, 3.0% Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander, 9.1% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 20.6% of the population.
There were 23,895 households out of which 27.8% had children under 18 living
with them, 35.4% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 45.5% were non-families. 32.8% of all
households were made up of individuals and 6.9% had someone living alone who
was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the
average family size was 3.05. In the city, the population was
distributed by age with 22.4% under the age of 18, 14.1% from 18 to 24, 39.4%
from 25 to 44, 15.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 101.3 males. For
every 101 females age 18 and over, there were 100.3 males.
Government Incorporated as a village in 1834 and as
a city in 1852, the city of Marietta is organized under a form of government
consisting of a Mayor, City Council and City Manager. The City Council is made
up of representatives elected from each of seven districts within the city and a
Mayor elected at-large. The City Council is the governing body
of the city with the authority to adopt and enforce municipal laws and
regulations. The Mayor and City Council appoint members of the community to sit
on the city's various boards and commissions, ensuring that a wide
cross-section of the community is represented in the city government.
The City Council appoints the City Manager, the city's chief executive
officer. The Council-Manager relationship is comparable to that of a
Board of Directors and CEO in a private company or corporation. The City Manager
appoints city department heads and is responsible to the City Council for all
city operations. The City Council also appoints the city attorney who serves as
the city's chief legal officer, and the City Clerk who maintains all the city's
records. Terms of office are for four years and
the number of terms a member may serve are unlimited. There are seven
councilman, each representing a separate ward.
= Former mayors = Economy
= Personal income = The median income for a household in the
city was $40,645, and the median income for a family was $47,340. Males had a
median income of $31,186 versus $30,027 for females. The per capita income for
the city was $23,409. About 11.5% of families and 15.7% of the population
were below the poverty line, including 21.3% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of
those age 65 or over. = Industry =
Dobbins Air Reserve Base on the south side of town and a Lockheed Martin
manufacturing plant are among the major industries in the city. The Lockheed
Georgia Employees Credit Union, is based in Marietta.
The dental provider company Kool Smiles has its headquarters in the Kool Smiles
Patient Support Center in Marietta. = Top employers =
According to Marietta's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,
the top employers within the city are: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics employs
7,000 workers locally. Infrastructure
The city operates Marietta Power under the auspices of the Board of Lights &
Water. = Transit systems =
Cobb Community Transit, Marietta/Cobb County's Transit System and Xpress GA
Buses serve the City. Media
The Marietta Daily Journal is published in the city.
Education All of the public schools in Marietta
proper are operated by the Marietta City Schools, while the remainder of the
schools in Cobb County, but outside the city limits, are operated by the Cobb
County School District, including all of the county's other cities. MCS has one
high school, Marietta High School, grades 9-12; a middle school, Marietta
Middle School, grades 7 and 8; Marietta Sixth Grade Academy; and several
elementary schools: A.L. Burruss, Dunleith, Hickory Hills, Lockheed,
Marietta Center for Advanced Academics, Park Street, Sawyer Road, and West Side.
Many residents of Marietta actually attend other Cobb County public schools,
such as Joseph Wheeler High School and George Walton Comprehensive High School.
These schools are known to compete fiercely in athletics, especially
basketball, as both Wheeler and Marietta High School frequently produce D-1
caliber players. The town of Marietta is also home to The Walker School, a
private pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school. Walker competes in the
Georgia High School Association Class A athletic division while Marietta and
Wheeler compete in Class AAAAAA. Walker occasionally challenges class 6A schools
in some of its stronger sports, such as basketball, with a moderate level of
historical success. The school system employs 1,200 people.
MCS is an International Baccalaureate World School district. In 2008, MCS
became only the second IB World School district in Georgia authorized to offer
the IB Middle Years Program for grades 6-10. MCS is one of only a few school
systems nationwide able to provide the full IB continuum.
Southern Polytechnic State University, and Life University are located in
Marietta, serving more than 20,000 students in more than 90 programs of
study. Culture
The city has six historic districts, some on the National Register of
Historic Places. A seventh, along Kennesaw Avenue, is proving more
controversial, and is still being considered as of March 2010. The city's
welcome center is located in the historic train depot.
Downtown is the town square and former location of the county courthouse. The
square is the site of several cultural productions and public events, including
a weekly farmers' market. The Marietta Players perform
semi-professional theater year round. The Strand Theatre has been renovated
back to its original design and features classic films and other events.
The Marietta Museum of History exhibits the history of the city and county. The
museum is home to thousands of artifacts including items from Marietta residents
and businesses. The Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum, also called "Scarlett
on the Square", houses a collection of memorabilia related to Gone with the
Wind, both the book and the film. The Big Chicken is a landmark on U.S.
41. Miramax Films and Disney filmed scenes
of the 1995 movie Gordy here. The 2014 film Dumb and Dumber To filmed a scene
in the Marietta Square. The CSX freight trains between Atlanta
and Chattanooga still run a block west of the town square, past the former
railroad depot and the Kennesaw House, one of only four buildings in Marietta
not burned to the ground in Sherman's March to the Sea. The Kennesaw House is
home to the Marietta Museum of History which tells the history of Marietta and
Cobb County. Notable people
Sister cities Marietta has two sister cities.
Heredia, Costa Rica Linz am Rhein, Germany
References External links
City of Marietta official website Marietta Welcome Center
Further reading At least two books have been produced
chronicling the history of the city in pictures:
Marietta Then and Now series. ISBN 978-0-7385-5314-6
Marietta Revisited Then and Now series.