Sourced from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution https://www.ajc.com/news/marietta-square-has-evolved-around-longtime-park/AHQNi7zutzwdcEYdbHXfAO/#:~:text=Q%3A%20What's%20the%20history%20of,plans%20for%20the%20Marietta%20Square

Marietta Square is the past and present center of Marietta, Georgia. Marietta was first laid out in 1833, one year after the foundation of Cobb County, and consisted of not much more than a central square and a modest courthouse. Industrial expansion in early Marietta was a direct result of its selection as the original homebase in Georgia for the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Atlanta was later selected in its place, but the original impact of locating near Marietta Square was significant to the development of early businesses in the town. In 1852, John Glover was elected as Marietta’s first mayor. He preserved the center of the square by purchasing a plot on the east side of the square for the relocation of the courthouse. Upon reclaiming the central land from the courthouse, he donated the land back to the city under the condition that it always be used as a park. In 1863, Marietta was converted into a hospital town under Confederate control, which subsequently altered every building on the square to be a medical facility. Marietta then saw Union occupation during the summer of 1864, and in November the Union army burned the town to the ground before moving on in their March to the Sea. 

Around the square, several sites are recognized for their significance in the area’s history, including a replica of the Liberty Bell in dedication to John Glover and Old Zion Baptist Church, the first Black run place of worship in Marietta. Today, Marietta Square is home to over thirty restaurants, nearly forty shops, thirteen museums and entertainment facilities, and about a dozen government and law offices. The square hosts farmers markets and annual events, as Glover Park continues to be a well-kept grassy area and a convenient location for festivals, fairs, and other local events. The homes and neighborhoods surrounding the square are visibly old in contrast to neighborhoods that have later developed outward from the center of the city, which makes the area distinct.

In comparison to Leicester Square in Charles Dickens’ Bleak House and in real world context, Marietta Square is less significant and not nearly as large. However, it is important to note both as areas that have experienced transformations in function over the years and become designated places for public activity. Furthermore, both are regarded as public spaces and residential areas, as squares often are. In the novel, Leicester Square is designated as the location for George’s Shooting Gallery, which provides a place for the plot to progress on more than one occasion. Beyond this, however, the description of Leicester Square lends itself to both the general chaos and unifying nature of existing in public spaces. George’s Shooting Gallery sits in “the heart of [the] region” that is a “centre of attraction to… a large medley of shabbiness and shrinking out of sight” (304). The implication is that Leicester Square is a representation of the general population in a way that makes it wholly average. In my many visits to Marietta Square, I have observed much of the same. It is not a mall, not quite a park, and not solely a tourist attraction, which means that it attracts a broad range of people looking to do various things without any urgency. As unchanging as the square is, it may be that the excitement comes from the public aspect of the area. 

Although Leicester Square has a background role in the novel, the comparison between its description and a smaller square in a different part of the world is significant because it narrows the gap between distinct human experiences. Upon recognizing the resemblance between the types of spaces in which people interact and go about their business, it has become easier to determine the type of interactions that occur within them, whether they be mundane or filled with excitement. In Bleak House, Leicester Square offers the level of monotony that Dickens often adds to his style of realism in order to represent the same quality in everyday life.

Works Cited

“Black Heritage Walking Tour.” Marietta.com, www.marietta.com/attractions/marietta-tours/black-heritage-walking-tour. Accessed 20 November 2020.

Dickens, Charles. Bleak House, edited by Patricia Ingham, Broadview Press, 2011. 

“Marietta History: Marietta, GA.” Marietta History | Marietta, GA, www.mariettaga.gov/744/Marietta-History. Accessed 20 November 2020.

Hubbard, Sierra. “Marietta Square Has Evolved around Longtime Park.” Ajc, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 31 July 2017, www.ajc.com/news/marietta-square-has-evolved-around-longtime-park/AHQNi7.... Accessed 20 November 2020.