Marietta Square: History, Food, Music, and the Center of Downtown
Marietta Square has the rare advantage of feeling historic without feeling stale. It has brick paths, freight trains, an Instagramable fountain that earns its photo ops, and enough restaurants to satisfy any craving. It is polished in parts, old and historic in others, and better for it.
At the center is Glover Park, a public green with a big role in downtown life. The park covers a little more than an acre and includes a stage, fountain, gazebo, playground, benches, landscaping, and walking paths. It gives the Square its rhythm. Office workers cut through it at lunch. Families drift toward the train engine playground. Couples line up for photos near the gazebo. Concert crowds bring chairs and blankets when the music season starts. The fountain does what a good town fountain is supposed to do: pulls the eye, slows the feet, and gives restless kids something to orbit.
Glover Park is also why the Square feels different from many suburban downtowns around Atlanta. It is not a main street strip dressed up with antique lamps. The park gives the district a real center. Restaurants, bars, shops, museums, theaters, and offices face inward toward a shared public space. A visitor can park once, walk the block, eat well, see art, hear music, pick up a gift, tour a museum, and enjoy a full day without needing to leave the Square.
The history is not background decoration. Marietta was established in 1834, and the downtown square soon grew around the old courthouse. The railroad also helped the town grow, and the tracks still run along the western edge of the Square. The Western & Atlantic Railroad depot, built in 1898, now houses the Marietta Welcome Center. That is the right place to begin a visit, especially for first-time guests. It offers maps, brochures, information, restrooms, a gift shop, and practical advice about eating, shopping, and visiting local attractions.
Walking tours can guide you through the Square’s history, too. You can find walking tour itineraries at the Welcome Center. There is also a history tour for those that want to learn more about the historic Marietta Square.
Next door, the Marietta History Center occupies the historic Kennesaw House. The building is connected to one of the most dramatic stories in Civil War railroad history: the Great Locomotive Chase. In 1862, Andrews’ Raiders spent the night in Marietta, and the next morning they stole the locomotive known as The General. The story has been retold for generations, turned into a movie starring Buster Keaton in 1926, and a Disney movie in 1956, but the Square gives it real geography. The tracks are there. The depot is there. They make the past feel close enough to see and touch.
That sense of place continues through nearby museums and landmarks. The Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art occupies a former U.S. Post Office building from 1910 and focuses on American art. The Strand Theatre, an Art Deco theatre on North Park Square, has been part of the downtown landscape since 1935. Today, it features concerts, films, comedy, and live performances in a restored theater facing the Square, with the lit marquee giving the Square one of its most recognizable nighttime views. It is also home to Lumiere Lounge, a silent film-themed piano bar and cocktail lounge and The Strand Terrace, a 4th floor roof-top terrace that hosts Brew with a View on Friday and Saturday nights. The William Root House Museum and Gardens tells the story of one of Marietta’s earliest families, focusing on the everyday life of a typical middle-class household in the 1850’s. The Gone With The Wind Museum at Brumby Hall, built in 1851, draws both film and book fans. The Marietta Fire Museum adds another stop for visitors who appreciate old equipment, classic vehicles, and brass-polished nostalgia.
Food is a major reason the Square keeps bringing people back. A visitor can choose from over 60 Marietta Square restaurants within a 5 minute walk, with cuisines that range from pizza to sushi, pastries, pub food, fine dining, steakhouse, tacos, American, Mediterranean, burgers, Vietnamese, French, Thai, Italian, Chinese, Korean, bbq, Southern soul food, Mexican, Cuban, ramen, breweries, wine bars, savory and sweet pies, bagel sandwiches, cheesesteaks, tapas, coffee, gourmet markets, ice cream, and cocktails.
Marietta Pizza Company is a dependable family-friendly classic for lunch or dinner. The Australian Bakery Cafe is a unique breakfast and lunch spot that features typical breakfast and lunch items along with Aussie meat pies and a variety of sweets and other Australian favorites. Mac’s Chophouse is a nice option for the steak-and-cocktail dinner crowd. Hamp & Harry’s is a smaller, energetic modern-casual restaurant-and-bar. Taqueria Tsunami features fusion tacos blending Mexican and Asian elements. Spring deserves special recognition as one of the area’s standout dining destinations, earning a Michelin star, which is a rare achievement in Georgia and a point of pride for Marietta’s food scene.
Marietta Square Market adds even more options. Located about a block from Glover Park near the railroad tracks, the 18,500-square-foot food hall fills a former warehouse with 20 eateries and food stalls, including 3 bars, indoor seating, and a covered outdoor patio space. The fact that nobody has to agree on one menu makes it a practical spot for families, dates, office lunches, and the eternal dinner problem (at my house at least) of one person wanting a burger while another has a craving for tonkotsu ramen.
The local bar and brewery scene has continued to grow while keeping the area’s character intact. Glover Park Brewery pours beer in a 1930s-era brick building near the Square, with a dog-friendly beer garden and event space. Johnnie MacCracken’s Celtic Firehouse Pub occupies Marietta Fire Station No. 1, which was home to the first professional Fire Department in the State of Georgia. It is a building with history and now better known for elevated pub food (try the Scotch egg if you get there before 5), drinks, and late-night character. Two Birds Taphouse is located in an 1800’s era building with exposed brick and beams. The taphouse features 32 taps of craft beer, along with wine, cocktails, artisan wood-fired pizza, and seasonally inspired shared plates. Marietta Wine Market is located in part of the former Anderson Motor Company space originally built around 1926, and is now home to over 500 wines and beers from around the world, along with frequent wine tastings and live music. Contrast Artisan Ales is a craft beer tasting room and fermentarium located on Church St just off the Square.
The Marietta Square area also allows alcoholic drinks to be taken outside for a stroll within the downtown entertainment district. Keep in mind though that alcohol is not allowed in Glover Park or on the sidewalks bordering the park, so the park remains playground-and-fountain territory, not tailgate territory (
map).
Marietta Square is built for wandering. Shopping around the Square mixes gift shops, boutiques, art galleries, vintage and antiques, books, clothing, home goods, and specialty retailers. The best approach is simple: walk the perimeter and take the side streets seriously. Some of the best finds are not on the most obvious corner.
On Saturday mornings, the Marietta Square Farmers Market and the the Marietta Square Artisan Market are held year-round near 41 Mill Street from 9 am to noon. Together, the two markets feature produce, baked goods, plants, handmade art, paintings, clothing, jewelry, décor, home goods, prepared foods, flowers, pantry items, and plenty of snacks you can eat while you shop.
Events fill the Square calendar year round. The Glover Park Concert Series features live music on the last Friday night from April through September. Taste of Marietta fills the area with restaurant samples and hungry crowds. Art in the Park, Chalktoberfest, May-Retta Daze, holiday events, parades, artisan markets, and Marietta Square Art Walk, on the first Friday of each month, keep the Square active year round. Some days are calm enough for a slow coffee and a bench. Other days require patience and some luck finding parking, though there is always space in one of the three parking decks located just a minute or two away. See the Marietta calendar of events for more information about events that take place on the Square, and the Marietta Parking Guide for more info about where you can park.
Marietta Square is a great place to visit because it does several things well at once. It gives locals an easy dinner plan. It gives visitors a walkable introduction to the city. It gives families a park and playground. It gives history people enough material to enjoy for as long as they want. It gives food people some very solid options. It gives theater, art, music, markets, and festivals a natural stage. Most important, it does all of that without feeling like a mall, a museum set, or a committee-approved strip mall with the soul removed.
That is what makes it different. Marietta Square is a vibe, it is a railroad town, a Civil War town, an arts district, a restaurant district, a market and festival venue, and a strong weekend destination. The pieces do not always match perfectly, but that is part of the appeal. A polished steakhouse shares a block with an old pub. A freight train will likely rumble past brunch. A wedding party poses at a gazebo near a playground shaped like a locomotive. The result feels real, and something real feels increasingly rare.
The Square does not need a complicated plan. Visitors should go for the food, the park, the history, the drinks, the markets, the theater, and the easy pleasure of walking around a downtown that rewards curiosity. Go for lunch and stay longer than planned. Go at night when the lights come on around Glover Park. Go on a concert Friday with a chair or blanket and a flexible attitude. Go on a Saturday morning with coffee in hand and walk the farmers market, and leave room for something sweet. Marietta Square has the bones of a historic small town, but it still knows how to feed people, entertain them, and send them home with a better story than they expected.
Parking:
Parking can be found in numerous locations around the Square. There are free two hour parking spots around the square and down many of the side streets, as well as paid and free parking lots. There are also three parking decks that surround the Square. Â For more parking information, including location maps, please visit Marietta.com/Marietta-Square-Parking
Directions:
If you’re coming from Atlanta, take I-75 north to exit 263, which is South Marietta Parkway 120. At the exit, turn left and go west about five miles. Turn right onto Atlanta Street, and the Square is two blocks ahead.
If you’re coming from North Georgia, take I-75 South to exit 265, which is North Marietta Parkway 120. At the exit, turn right and go west about two miles. Turn left onto Church Street, and the Square is two blocks ahead.
Address:
Glover Park and the historic Marietta Square
50 Park Square
Marietta, GA 30060
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