Cobb County, Georgia

Cobb County Education, Geography, and History

Cobb County is a suburban county located in the state of Georgia. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 688,078, making it the fourth-most populous county in Georgia. Cobb County was created on December 2, 1832 from Cherokee County. The county seat and largest city is Marietta. The county is named in honor of Colonel Thomas Willis Cobb (1784-1835), a hero of the War of 1812 and a US Congressman.

Cobb County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is situated immediately to the northwest of the city limits of Atlanta.

Etymology - Origin of Cobb County Name

The county is named for Judge Thomas Willis Cobb of Virginia, who served as a US Senator, state congressman and Superior Court Judge.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Cobb County History

Cobb County was created from Cherokee County, originally part of the Cherokee Indian Nation. It was the 81st county in Georgia and named for Judge Thomas Willis Cobb of Virginia, who served as a US Senator, state congressman and Superior Court Judge.

Marietta was named for Judge Cobb's wife. The city's downtown was destroyed by Sherman's troops in 1864, but it was reconstructed and now Marietta is home to four National Historic Districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Points of Interest

There is a 23-acre National Cemetery in Marietta with more than 17,000 officers and soldiers from every US war buried in the cemetery.

With 43 parks, recreation centers, and other related facilities, Cobb's park system is one of the Southeast's largest. There are also 8,800 acres of federally owned park lands in Cobb County including Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Two other of the state's top attractions are found in Cobb: White Water Park and Six Flags Over Georgia.

Notable Citizens

County music star Travis Tritt was born in Marietta and Academy-award winning actress Julia Roberts was raised in Smyrna.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 345 square miles (890 km²), of which 340 square miles (880 km²) is land and 4.0 square miles (10 km²) (1.4%) is water.

Cobb county is located in northwest Georgia. The county is divided between two major basins. Most runoff flows into the Chattahoochee River along the southeastern border, directly via Willeo Creek, Sope Creek (Sewell Creek), Rottenwood Creek (Powers Creek, Poorhouse Creek, Poplar Creek) and others. The large Sweetwater Creek is the other major stream, carrying the waters of Noses Creek (Ward Creek, Olley Creek, Mud Creek), Nickajack Creek, Powder Springs Creek (Rakestraw Creek, Mill Creek) and others into the Chattahoochee. A ridge from Lost Mountain in the west, to Kennesaw Mountain in the north-central, to Sweat Mountain in the extreme northeast, divides the far north-northwest of the county into the Etowah River basin, which includes Lake Allatoona. Noonday Creek (Little Noonday Creek) flows northward into the lake, as does Allatoona Creek, which forms a major arm of the lake. Proctor Creek forms the much older Lake Acworth, which in turn empties directly into Lake Allatoona under the Lake Acworth Drive (Georgia 92) bridge. North Cobb is in the Coosa River basin

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Northeast: Cherokee County
• Southeast: Fulton County
• Southwest: Douglas County
• West: Paulding County
• Northwest: Bartow County

Education

Higher Education

Kennesaw State University and Southern Polytechnic State University.

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