Marietta Cobb Museum of Art

Posted: 04.10.2025 | Updated: 04.10.2025

Atlanta, Georgia. If you’ve seen Donald Glover’s hit show, you’ll know that this Georgia city can sometimes be hauntingly surreal. From the occasionally dark history to the beautiful surroundings, Atlanta is at once beautiful and terrifying. 

And nowhere does that mixture of beauty, terror, and darkness manifest better than at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art. 

Yes, an art museum. 

Perhaps not the location that most people think of when they think of “haunted places,” but this curious bit of Georgia history has more than its fair share of ghost stories. And, most curiously, most of the stories come from just one source.

Keep reading on to learn the identity of this ghost and where she might come from. After you’re done, we’re sure you’ll want to learn even more about haunted Georgia. The best way to do that is by booking an in-person ghost tour with Atlanta Ghosts

Who Haunts the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art?

It’s a question that’s often asked about this place, and for those who believe, there’s just one answer to all of the hauntings and strange happenings around this building – Catherine the ghost. 

Museum History

Would you dare stay in a haunted place? What if that haunted area had art masterpieces around you to make the stay more relaxing?

That’s exactly the question the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art asks its guests. Housed within a Classical Revival building that was constructed all the way back on March 14, 1910, these days, it’s a bit of a destination and local landmark in Atlanta.

At the time it was built, it was actually designed to be the Cobb County Post Office. However, times change, and so do the needs of the town. The building would go on to serve a variety of roles, including being the main branch of the Marietta Public Library in the 1960s. 

However, the building would only operate as a library for about a decade before the local Fine Arts Club of Marietta was gifted the building by the Marietta City Council. The Fine Arts Club was a local organization dedicated to celebrating the arts in Georgia and spun off from the local Women’s Club. 

Eventually, this club rebranded itself into the Marietta Cobb Fine Arts Center, making it more accessible to Georgia at large. By 1986, it had transitioned fully into becoming a non-profit organization whose focus was exclusively dedicated to Americana. In fact, to this day, it is the only fine arts museum in the Metro Atlanta area that focuses only on American art.

It’s a local fixture and offers classes and programs for its locals all year round. MCMA is located in the heart of the historic Marietta Square and hosts Chalktoberfest, Georgia’s largest chalk art festival and the museum’s biggest fundraising event of the year. 

Hauntings at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art

However, it’s not just children’s art classes and chalk art festivals that draw visitors to the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art. There are ghosts, too!

Or, perhaps more accurately, one specific ghost, as she’s the one locals and museum staff are always spotting. Her name is Catherine (or Katherine – the spelling is inconsistent across records), and she’s become a local legend. 

Catherine’s identity is steeped in mystery. The most compelling stories from locals and experts familiar with the history of the building claim that she was, in some way, tied to the first postmaster back when the building was still the town post office. 

The exact nature of Catherine’s relationship with the postmaster is similarly up for debate. Some claim that she was his lifelong wife, and after she died before him, haunted the museum because she mistakenly believed that her husband would still be working there. 

Others say that Catherine was the postmaster’s secret mistress, and perhaps this transgression and betrayal of his wife cursed Catherine to stay locked down here on this mortal coil. Whoever she was will probably always remain lost to time, as recordkeeping during the early 20th century was next to nonexistent. 

However, while we might not know a lot about Catherine and who she was while she was alive, there are plenty of accounts of her personality and what she likes to get up to these days. 

Haunted Pranks and Ghost Sightings

And what she likes getting up to mainly is pulling pranks! Her pranks are mainly confined to museum curators and volunteers, although she doesn’t always avoid targeting visitors.

Her pranks are as numerous as they are creative. One time, she turned around all of the light fixtures that ordinarily pointed towards paintings up towards the ceiling. Maybe she was just expressing her displeasure with the art displayed that day, or maybe she was trying to turn the spotlight on herself. 

There are also numerous incidents involving the museum elevator. Evidently, the ghost of Catherine had fallen in love with a local elevator repairman – perhaps he reminded her of her late husband – and began following him around. 

The repairman reported feeling a tap on his shoulder and actually getting a full glimpse of her apparition disappearing when he turned around. The elevator is known to be quite finicky, and many who work at the museum swear that Catherine messes with the mechanisms to summon her crush back to the museum to work on it. 

Catherine will also hide the rope partition that divides the office space and leave it in hard-to-reach spaces. She delights in bringing large objects up to the highest floors and throwing them down, making a loud noise and causing many visitors to be scared out of their minds!

However, despite all of these pranks, her mischief is likely just out of boredom or playfulness rather than any desire to harm the museum. The reasoning for that is simple – she doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave. In fact, museum staff have reported that she’s taken up residence in the upstairs storage area. 

Haunted Atlanta 

Maybe you’ll also be able to get a glimpse of Catherine if you take the road up to her art museum on your next trip to Atlanta. Just make sure not to bother her, as her patience and penchant for mischief are far beyond most people’s. 

If you liked this story and want to learn similar tales, check out our Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. They spotlight other offbeat ghost stories all over the United States. Checking our blog is another good way to stay up-to-date with all the latest ghost stories and haunted spots in Georgia

If you want to explore Atlanta ghosts up close, a ghost tour with Atlanta Ghosts is the best way to do that. Our guides are knowledgeable and enthusiastic and can provide even more information on the area. 

Sources:

• https://mariettacobbartmuseum.org/about/history-of-the-building
• https://www.marietta.com/attractions/arts-and-theatre/marietta-cobb-museum-of-art
• https://www.mdjonline.com/old-haunts-marietta-history-conjures-ghostly-tales-for-tour/article_32ee43ea-38e9-11ec-a478-1fe9fd031b0c.html