Made of granite from Stone Mountain, this arch has greeted visitors to the Marietta National Cemetery for more than 100 years

This beautiful national cemetery was built on land donated to the federal government by Henry Greene Cole, a local innkeeper and Union sympathizer who spent a brief period of time in a Charleston jail at the end of the Civil War. Cole donated the land for burying both Union and Confederate soldiers, but the thought of Southern boys lying next to Northern invaders so riled up residents that only Union soldiers were buried there.

Originally the Marietta National Cemetery did not have the entrance arch and had a different wall surrounding the facility. The 22-inch thick rubble wall was added beginning in 1872 (replacing a rail fence), the arch added in 1883, courtesy of the Stone Mountain Granite Company. The rubble wall was later raised in two stages.

Among the monuments in the cemetery is the Wisconsin Monument dedicated on May 31, 1925 and is a memorial to the 405 men from Wisconsin who are buried in the cemetery. It is easily recognized - the Wisconsin badger (the state symbol) is at the top. A recent addition is the memorial to those who survived Pearl Harbor. This was dedicated in 1996.

The cemetery holds the grave of a Medal of Honor recipient, Corporal Lee Hugh Phillips of the United States Marine Corps. Corporal Phillips was killed in action in Korea on November 4, 1950. Against a superior enemy force, Corporal Phillips led a squad of Marines in an attack against a numerically superior force in a fortified position, then charged the opposing force when they counter-attacked. For complete details see Corporal Lee Hugh Phillips. In addition to Corporal Phillips the cemetery holds the grave of former Governor John Clark, who was governor of Georgia from 1819-1823

Location: East of downtown Marietta
Directions: Take I-75 to exit 263. Take the South 120 Loop to Cobb Parkway. Turn right. At the Big Chicken turn left on Roswell St. The cemetery is on the right. Entrance is on Cole St.
Additional information:

Date added: November 16, 2003
Last update: December 5, 2003