The Marietta Pilgrimage
A Christmas Home Tour through Marietta, Georgia

Root House Museum, c. 1845

145 Denmead Street

The Root House, one of Marietta's oldest homes, was originally on the corner of Church and Lemon Streets. In the early 1890's, it was rolled back on the lot and turned to face Lemon Street when the Clarke Library building was built. The house was again endangered in the late 1980's and Cobb Landmarks & Historical Society was able to save this historic structure from demolition and moved it to its present location in 1990. William Root came to Marietta in 1839 to open the county's first drug store. He married Hannah Simpson, the daughter of one of Marietta's early settlers and raised their four children in this house. Root became a leading citizen of Marietta and was one of the founders of the St. James Episcopal Church. He served as Sunday School Superintendent for fifty years. Upon completion of the restoration, the house was developed into a museum depicting middle class life in Marietta in the 1850s. During your visit, you will experience a Christmas past--the house will be dressed in winter best and decorated with pine and holly in the manner of the time. See the 1850s Christmas tree and the table set for a festive dinner and visit the Root House kitchen house, where hot cider, ginger snaps and beaten biscuits will be served all day.