Historic Sites in Marietta
After my father retired, genealogy became one of his primary occupations, and while much of his time was spent online searching through the newly accessible information on the latest technology known as the Internet, he would also travel to different areas of the country to explore cemeteries for clues to lost relatives, or simply to find the final resting place of his (and my) direct ancestors. He managed to trace the family as far back as 1680, arriving in America just before the 17th Century ended. That meant I had great great great great, (etcetera) grandparents who were involved with the American Revolution and the Civil War. Just twenty miles outside of Atlanta, Georgia, the town of Marietta is home to at least four historic sites of interest to the Civil War, including one park and three cemeteries: The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, the Marietta National Cemetery, the Marietta Confederate Cemetery, and the Marietta City Cemetery.
To examine all these sites properly, you may want to stay the night. You can find more information by clicking here, where you’ll find two of the best places to stay in town. Once that’s settled, you can concentrate more on the sites. The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park was where the Union Army met the Confederates who were settled in on the mountain ridgetops. They delayed General William T. Sherman’s inevitable March to the Sea and the burning of Atlanta in what is now a 2,888 acre park. In the Marietta National Cemetery, you’ll find a site created in 1866. Four years earlier, with the Civil War death toll rising, national cemeteries were proposed. This cemetery holds both Union and Confederate soldiers; the cemetery contains over 17,000 men, of which 3,000 are unidentified.
There’s also the Marietta Confederate Cemetery, which contains over 3,000 soldiers. A woman named Jane Porter Glover gave a part of her plantation to bury twenty Confederate soldiers killed in a train crash. From that incident, the cemetery grew and there’s soldiers represented from all of the Confederate States and also from Missouri and Maryland and Kentucky. It’s the biggest Confederate Cemetery found to the South of Richmond. Many of these soldiers fought in the Kennesaw Mountain battle as well as the Battle of Kolb’s Farm. Finally, there’s the Marietta City Cemetery. The history of Marietta is contained on this land, honoring the former mayors and prominent town citizens. Established in 1830s, a part of the cemetery contains the Old Slave Lot; no other cemetery in the state of Georgia gave space to burying slaves or free people descended from Africa. No matter which site you visit, some or all will provide a greater sense of history and a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors.
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