Roswell throws its extraterrestrial obsession right at you the moment you reach its city limits. Whether you enter from the north or south, it’s impossible to miss the bold neon flying saucer-themed welcome signs rising in each direction from the stark desert landscape.
1. Archibald Smith Plantation Home
This delightful clapboard home was built just a few years after the foundation of Roswell, in 1845. It became the home of Archibald Smith, one of the founders of the city, and three generations of his family.
Now a museum, visitors are able to explore the house, as well as its carriage house, discovering its more than two centuries of history.
2. Sky Zone Trampoline Park
Sky Zone Trampoline Park is an indoor activity park that allows grown ups to have the sort of fun normally only available to children.
In addition to the wall-to-wall trampolines of Freestyle Jump, there’s a trampoline dodgeball court, Ninja Warrior course, and a Foam Zone among other attractions.
3. Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
Located on Roswell’s southern boundary, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area links together a series of green spaces and parkland over 47 miles, with the nearest access only ten minutes from the city center.
The United States’ first National Water Trail, the area is an incredibly picturesque place to wander in the open air for a few hours in relative seclusion.
4. Bulloch Hall
Listed on the US’ National Register of Historic Places, Bulloch Hall was the childhood home of American socialite Martha Bulloch. She was the mother of Theodore Roosevelt, the Nobel-prize winning 26th president of the United States, who visited in 1905.
Built in 1839, the structure follows the Greek Revival style, with a portico of four multistorey Greek columns welcoming visitors.
The exhibits are divided between those that detail the life of the upper classes in the nineteenth century, and the events of the Civil War in the upstairs rooms.
5. Computer Museum of America
This new museum opened on the 50th anniversary of man first landing on the moon in 1969, and is the largest museum dedicated to computing and technology on the East Coast. It plans to become the biggest in the world.
Its collection includes important landmarks in home computing, such as the Commodore 64, and Apple 1.
It also houses supercomputers like Clay-1, which was used in the Los Alamos National Laboratory (birthplace of the atomic bomb) in the 1970s.
Other important exhibits include an Enigma coding machine from the Second World War, eventually decoded for the Allies by British engineer Alan Turing, the father of the modern computer.
6. Chattahoochee Nature Center
The Chattahoochee Nature Center’s remit is a simple one – to provide insight to locals and visitors to the flora and fauna native to this part of Georgia.
Its greenhouse has display examples of local plants, which can also be found in the gardens. Aquaria and aviaries show off a collection of reptiles such as corn snakes, amphibians, and birds of prey, many of whom were rescued and cannot be re-released into the wild.
Chattahoochee Nature Center sits on the banks of the river of the same name, in a site of just over 50 hectares.
7. Atlanta
Just half an hour south of Roswell is Atlanta, the Georgia state capital and host of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
Although it was largely destroyed by General Sherman during the American Civil War, it soon rebuilt and has a number of worthwhile landmarks.
These vary significantly, from the glass and steel edifice of the World of Coca-Cola, to the traditional cream and black wooden home where civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr spent his childhood. It is home to the Georgia Aquarium, the largest indoor aquarium in the world, too.
The city is also able to boast the Carter Center presidential library, and the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum, dedicated to the life and work of the author of Gone with the Wind.
8. Barrington Hall
Another important survivor from Roswell’s early history is Barrington Hall, built in the same year and style as Bulloch Hall.
It was the main residence of Barrington King, who alongside his father Roswell King, decided that this spot in Georgia as the right place to found a new city.
Deliberately positioned at the city’s highest point, it remained in the family until 2003. At this time, a large-scale restoration was begun, after which it was opened to the public as a museum.
9. Faces of War Memorial
Dating from another horror-filled period of American history, the Faces of War Memorial was constructed to remember those who fought in the Vietnam War.
Placed at the heart of the community, in front of the grand City Hall building, it is made from red brick surrounding a three-dimensional bronze plaque that sees a young child leading a soldier away from the jungle battlefield.
The memorial is relatively unusual in that it commemorates both military and civilian victims of the war.
10. Morgan Falls Overlook Park
Morgan Falls Overlook Park is located in Sandy Springs, roughly 15 minutes south of central Roswell by road. It is one of the region’s newest public spaces, opened in just 2010.
Situated on the banks of Bull Sluice Lake, the park is a family-friendly outdoor space containing walking trails, a picnic pavilion, and a children’s playground.
During the summer months, its possible to rent canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddle boards for water-based adventures. The more romantic-minded will be happy to hear that the park is also well-known for its sunsets.
11. Roswell Mill
It was the potential for milling that led Roswell King to found the city that carries his forename where he did. At its height, the series of mills that together formed Roswell Mill was the largest cotton mill in the north of the state.
It produced its textiles from the cotton grown in the region, before expanding to also mill wool and flour.
12. Variant Brewing Company
The modern wood and metal of Variant’s brewery makes for an interesting comparison to older breweries that lie in and around Roswell.
Operating for just a handful of years to date, Variant is an independent craft brewery which goes beyond the usual beer standards to create some truly intriguing flavors.
So alongside imperial stouts, you’ll also find beers such as Compos Mentis, which is barrel-aged with vanilla in old Bourbon casks, and even an English-style barleywine.
