The Marietta Square by the Numbers

The Marietta Square is where I grew up spending Saturday mornings, and it's still the heart of Cobb County's county seat. Here's the Square in facts and figures.

The history. The Georgia General Assembly recognized Marietta on December 19, 1834, and the city incorporated in 1852. The Square grew up around the old courthouse. In 1862, Andrews' Raiders spent the night here before stealing the locomotive The General, and railroad tracks laid before the Civil War still run along the Square's western edge.

Glover Park. The green space at the center is a little over an acre, with a stage, fountain, gazebo and playground. The Glover Park Concert Series runs the last Friday of each month from April through September.

Every Saturday. The Marietta Square Farmers Market runs year-round, rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to noon. An artisan market runs the same hours near 41 Mill Street.

The Strand. The Art Deco theatre on North Park Square opened on September 24, 1935, closed in 1976 and reopened after restoration in 2009. Now the Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre, it seats 531 for concerts, classic films and live shows.

Museums within a few blocks.

• Marietta History Center, in the historic Kennesaw House next to the 1898 railroad depot that now serves as the Welcome Center
• Gone With the Wind Museum at Brumby Hall, built in 1851
• Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art in a former 1910 U.S. Post Office
• William Root House Museum and Gardens and the free Marietta Fire Museum

Food. More than 60 restaurants sit within a five-minute walk of the Square. Marietta Square Market alone is an 18,500-square-foot food hall with 20 eateries and three bars.

Take it from Mary: homes within walking distance of the Square come up less often than buyers hope. If that's on your list, tell me early so I can watch for them.

A note on the numbers: every figure in this post is a good-faith estimate taken from the sources below as of the date it was posted. Figures aren't exact and can change, so please do your own research and confirm anything important with the official source before relying on it.

Sources

• Marietta, Georgia (Wikipedia)
• Marietta Square (Marietta.com)
• Strand Theatre (Wikipedia)

Photo: HowardSF via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.