The settlement on the site of the modern Marietta, then the former territory of the Cherokee Indians, appeared in the 1830s. The date of the city's foundation is December 19, 1834. Marietta was named after Mary Moore Cobb, the wife of the U.S. Senator and Supreme Court Justice Thomas William Cobb, after whom the Cobbs County is named.

The construction of Western and Atlantic Railroad has contributed to the development of Marietta. In 1845, the railway connected Marietta to Martasville (modern Atlanta), and after five years it was completed to Chattanooga in Tennessee. Since Marietta was at an altitude of about 300 meters above sea level and was the highest populated area on the railway, during the summer months landlords from Georgia and South Carolina fled the city from the heat and the malaria climate. Over time, some of them settled in Marietta.

As the number of tourists increased in the city new hotels, hotels and shops were built. On January 22, 1852, Mariette was granted the status of a city, the mayor and the city council were elected. The city's first mayor was Joe Gayward Glover, a South Carolina rice planter who moved to Marietta because of a healthier climate. In 1855, Glover opened the city's first bank, as well as the leather used by his slaves.

During the civil war of 1861-1865, Georgia was a member of the Confederation and became one of the main theaters of war. In April 1862, a group of North Volunteers, led by James Andrews, stopped at Marietta and participated in an operation called the Great Steam Race. In July 1864, after the battle at Kenneso Mountain, Marietta was occupied by General William Sherman's troops. In November, when Sherman began his trek to the sea, his troops set fire to the city center, about twenty houses, Glover's leather, and the Georgia Military Institute, which was opened in 1851. After the war ended, two memorial cemeteries were established in Marietta.

In the postwar period cotton, flour, paper, marble began to be produced in the city, furniture and machine-building plants were opened. But for a long time, Marietta's salaries were low, and as a result, the youth were not detained in the city. In the late 1940s the population of Marietta did not exceed 9 thousand people.

During World War II, the Bell Aircraft Corporation's plant was opened in Marietta to gather strategic bombers B-29 Superfortress. The plant provided many jobs, which led to a significant increase in the population of Marietta. With the beginning of the Korean War of 1950-1953 the plant was reopened and passed into the ownership of the Californian Lockheed Corporation. In 1995 Lockheed Corporation joined Martin Marietta in Lockheed Martin. In 2003, the company's Marietta factory employed 7,000 people who assembled the C-130J transport aircraft and the F-22 fighter.

• Jennifer Page, singer and actress.
• Dan Bird, actor.
• Deanna Pappas-Stagliano, actress, journalist, TV presenter, breast cancer activist.
• Lucius Dibignon Clay, April 23, 1897-April 16, 1978 - American General, Head of Administration of the American zone of occupation of postwar Germany. Clay is considered the father of the Berlin Air Bridge (1948-1949).

• Official city website
• Marietta in New Georgia Encyclopedia