William Root House

The oldest house in Marietta, built around 1845 for the town's first druggist, William Root. This middle-class residence has been moved twice and is now preserved as a museum by the Cobb Landmarks Society.

The William Root House, dating back 180 years, is one of the oldest and best-preserved houses in the Atlanta area. Built in 1845 for local merchant and druggist William Root and his wife Hannah, this modest dwelling once housed their extended family of eleven plus four enslaved persons.

During the Civil War, the Root family fled to Washington, Georgia, as Union troops occupied Marietta on July 3, 1864. Local legend holds that the house's proximity to a war hospital spared it from destruction—it likely served as temporary quarters for Union surgeons. While General Sherman's army burned much of Marietta, with dead soldiers piled in the square, the Root family returned on July 15, 1865 to find their home miraculously intact.

Today, the house serves as a museum, but the departed may not have fully left. Multiple claims of paranormal activity center on the main bedroom. The spirit of Mrs. Root, dressed in her finest 19th-century attire, has been seen peering from the bedroom windows like a guardian of old memories. Even more unsettling, the antique bed appears slept in when staff arrive to open the museum each morning—though the house was empty overnight.

A young boy's spirit is also said to haunt the property, along with Hannah Root, both of whom died there. During October, the museum embraces its haunted reputation, decorating for a Victorian-style funeral and hosting themed events. Visitors are warned to tread carefully past this historic home—Mrs. Root's translucent spirit is still watching.