Marietta is the county seat of Cobb County, is nestled about 16 miles north of Atlanta, and offers visitors the charm of a small city along with a stimulating urban environment. Marietta offers a beautiful, vibrant downtown square filled with restaurants, antique shops and businesses. Festivals frequent the city square, as it is a beautiful setting and ideal location. Surrounding the square are many Victorian Era homes. Marietta resides in both East and West Cobb County. Each real estate market is very different in what they offer to their residents, but both areas are booming and considered to be a wonderful place to live. Marietta offers "small town values with big city opportunities"!
Marietta existed before Atlanta or Chattanooga. A small cluster of homes near the Cherokee town of Kennesaw were reported as early as 1824. An early road in what would become Cobb County crossed the "Shallow Ford" of the Chattahoochee and ran just south of these early settlers. In 1832 the State of Georgia formed 10 counties from what had been Cherokee Indian land. Cobb County was named after Thomas Willis Cobb, a U.S. Representative, Senator and Supreme Court Judge. In 1837, The Georgia Gazetteer reported that the city of Marietta was named after Thomas Cobb's wife.
The Georgia legislature legally recognized the town on December 19, 1834. Two years later, the state assembly approved a bill creating the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Marietta was selected as a home base for this project and the impact of locating near Marietta Square was significant. Business began to boom. Three taverns sprang up around the center of town to accompany the early stores of Thomas Johnston and George Winters, John Lemon, Watson W. Simpson and James Waller. The Western and Atlantic Railroad began to operate from Atlanta to Adairsville in 1845 and through to Chattanooga in 1850. Tanyards became a thriving business and made up a major portion of the city's business income, along with railroad related revenue.
During the 1850's fire destroyed much of Marietta on three separate occasions. By the time the Civil War began in 1861, Marietta had recovered from the fires and was booming again. On the night of April 12, 1862, a group of 23 men spent the night in two local Marietta hotels. Early the next morning these rebels proceeded to Marietta Station and boarded a train to Big Shanty, aka Kennesaw. The next 50 miles of this ride has been dramatically recreated throughout generations as "The Great Locomotive Chase." In the summer of 1864, the Civil War began and General Sherman moved in to occupy the town. In November, 1864, men under the command of Union General Hugh Kilpatrick, set the town on fire, again.
Marietta has experienced more history than most towns could ever claim! The biggest change for Marietta occurred during World War II, when the Bell Aircraft Company built a bomber plant there. Newcomers soon poured in to occupy the recently created jobs and a temporary housing crisis formed. Bell Bomber closed its doors in 1945, but in 1950, the Korean War brought Lockheed Martin into the abandoned facility. As Georgia's largest employer during the 1950's and 1960's, Lockheed helped trigger phenomenal growth in Marietta and Cobb County, and the town and county are still thriving today.
