Memory lane: The Chant compares historic photos of Acworth, Kennesaw, and Marietta to now

People mill around the lush square, stopping by the flowing fountain as the sounds of children laughing ring throughout the park and a train whistle approaches from the distance. A swanky new restaurant, built just last year, stands right next to a building constructed in 1860, tying together both the past and the present.

Each town of Marietta, Kennesaw, and Acworth follow this pattern. They revel in their history, with buildings and landmarks dating back to before the Civil War, but city officials make sure to not leave them behind in the past; construction workers continually work at building new apartments, restaurants, and public works projects.

The Chant set out to see just how much, or how little, these three towns have changed from the 1860s to now with a retrospective of historical photos gathered from local museums and archives and their current counterparts.

Marietta

Kennesaw

Acworth

To browse more historic photos from Cobb County and all of Georgia, visit the Marietta Museum of History’s archives or the Vanishing Georgia archives, the latter of which contains over 18,000 historic Georgia photographs.

Interested in taking a tour of these historic locations or learning more facts about the three cities? Check out The Chant’s comprehensive map and audio tour sound bites for a trip through history.