1943 - 1946
A plan to help lift rural Cobb County out of the Great Depression by building a commercial airport changed course when America entered WWII and Marietta was chosen as the location for a new aircraft assembly plant. Wartime necessity had rival companies collaborating as when Bell Aircraft Corporation of Buffalo, NY was awarded a contract to build B-29 Superfortresses designed by Boeing. Standing 29 feet tall with a wingspan of 141 feet, the four-engine plane had a 4,000-mile range, a ceiling above 30,000 feet and maximum speed exceeding 350 mph. In total, 668 B-29s were produced here. Peak employment surpassed 28,000 people with both skilled and unskilled jobs commanding higher wages than were found elsewhere. At the end of the war the B-29 contract was cancelled, employees were laid off and Bell sold its assets. The plant left an enduring legacy of prosperity in terms of increased wealth and workforce capabilities. Used primarily for storage until the onset of the Korean War, the plant was reopened in 1951 with a contract awarded to Lockheed.| HM Number | HMMI6 |
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| Tags | |
| Year Placed | 2010 |
| Placed By | Cobb County Community Development Agency |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Thursday, September 25th, 2014 at 11:51am PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 16S E 728040 N 3757783 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 33.93583333, -84.53278333 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 33° 56.15', W 84° 31.967' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 33° 56' 9.00" N, 84° 31' 58.02" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 404, 770, 678 |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 499 S Cobb Dr, Marietta GA 30060, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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