Mayretta Days, and other amazing things about Marietta, Ga.

I am excited to be a part of the 34th annual May-Retta Daze Festival taking place this weekend 5/1 and 5/2. Located around beautiful Glover Park (pictured above), my booth will be located on Cherokee Street, down the street from the beautiful, refurbished Strand Theater. While there, check out Traci Browning's stunning photography and the feel good and green work of Laura Wellem. You just might find your next masterpiece at Mayretta-Daze!

OTHER THINGS TO CHECK OUT WHILE IN MARIETTA:

This weekend marks the opening of the Marietta Square Farmers Market which takes place on Saturday between 9a-12n. This is your chance to buy locally grown food, and locally produced delicacies, such as organic dog biscuits, lcoal honey, soaps, candles among some things available. While there, make sure you stop by the booth of my brother and sister-in-law (Scott and Glendy) and sample their wonderful Jalopy Jelly , jellies made using jalopenos, mangos and peaches.

Make a day of your visit to historic Marietta. Also near the square is the Gone with the Wind Museum, the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art or the Marietta Museum of History.

What is "May-retta" you may ask? Apparently this is considered the traditional pronunciation of the city Marietta, which is currently pronounced as Mary-etta. However, I grew up in Marietta, and I rarely heard it pronounced May-retta by natives!

SOME QUICK HISTORICAL FACTS OF MARIETTA\

Marietta is older than Atlanta, with the first plot laid out in 1833.

It is the county seat for Cobb County, named for US Supreme Court Judge Thomas Willis Cobb.

Marietta is named after the wife of Judge Cobb, Mary Cobb.

The town was selected at the base for the Western and Atlantic Railroad.

John Glover arrived in 1948 and was elected mayor, when it was incorporated in 1852. Glover Park is named for him.

During the 1850's, fire destroyed much of the city three times.

The city played a crucial part in the civil war, with the Andrews Raiders boarding The General, which led to the Great Locomotive Chase. Read more here

Sherman invaded Marietta in the summer of 1864, and General Kilpatrick set fire to it in November of 1864, beginning Sherman's March to the Sea.

Leo Frank was lynched at Frey's Gin in 1913 (which was located across the street from my kindergarten), allegedly for the murder of Mary Phagan. This incident led to the founding of the Anti-Defamation League. No one was ever prosecuted for the lynching, but rumors have long hounded Marietta families. Read more of the story here.

As a child, I remember the following things happening in Marietta:

On Halloween, 1963, Atherton Drugs (located on the square) exploded while people were shopping for their costumes. Attributed to a build up gases, 6 people were killed. I remember everybody going downtown and standing silently around the empty shell.

The Big Chicken - built in 1963
need i saw more????


Across the street from The Big Chicken was The Thrift Market, which eventually became K-Mart. I remember going to the grand opening and watching the ribbon cut by Jayne Mansfield.

There are other memories, Parkaire Field Airport, Varner's Drive-in Restaurant, the list goes on and on.

So - come out this weekend and visit historic Marietta, and stop in to see me, Scott & Glendy, Traci and Laura!!!!!

A BRIEF HISTORY OF INMAN PARK

I will have a booth this weekend at the INMAN PARK FESTIVAL (4/24-25). As many of you know, this is one of the most unique and fun festivals in Atlanta, complete with a funky parade on Saturday. But, do you know anything about the history of this historic neighborhood?

Because the lots were first auctioned off in 1889, Inman Park is considered the first suburb developed in Atlanta.

The Battle of Atlanta was fought primarily along the swatch of land from the Carter Center on through Inman Park to Dekalb Avenue. (see The Atlanta Cyclorama.

Inman Park was originally developed by local entrepreneur Joel Hurt. He envisioned a country-like neighborhood adjacent to a business district. He managed to achieve this by having larger lots, curving streets and open park areas (this was to be repeated several years later in Druid Hills, also originally developed by Joel Hurt).

When the neighborhood proved to be popular, more land was acquired by Joel Hurt and Samuel Inman, a financier and cotton broker for whom the neighborhood was named. Prominent Atlanta families made Inman Park their home, including Asa Candler,the founder of Coca-cola, who called his home Callan Castle. (pictured below)



Because this area was home to so many prominent Atlanta families, easy access to downtown Atlanta was needed.. Thus, one of the nation's first streetcar systems was founded by Joel Hurt, running from downtown to the Trolley Barn (pictured below), which stands today on Edgewood Avenue, one block south of the Inman Park Marta Station.



10 acres were set aside and Springvale Park was landscaped, complete with Crystal Lake. This became THE place to live in Atlanta.

But, unfortunately, the area went into decline in the early 1900's and continued until the 1970's. When the automobile became more commonplace, people began moving away, new suburbs further away were developed. Apartment homes were being built. Many of the wonderful elegant homes in Inman Park were owned by absentee landlords and thus divided into apartments. Crystal Lake was eventually drained because it was filled with weeds and gargage and had become mosquito-ridden.

But, luckily urban pioneers discovered the neighborhood in the 1970's, and Inman Park Restoration Inc was formed. Within a year, 40 houses were being renovated to their original luster. Then Inman Park did something that had rarely been done before, the entire neighborhood was zoned back to residential and in 1973 was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

To learn more about the history of Inman Park , The Atlanta Preservation Center conducts tours April-October.