During the Civil War, Kennesaw was the staging ground for the Great Locomotive Chase on April 12, 1862.

[5] As the Western and Atlantic Railroad was being built in the late 1830s, shanty towns arose to house the workers.

[7] During the Civil War, Big Shanty was the site of major fighting in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, part of the larger Atlanta Campaign.

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park,[8] located southeast of the city limits, now contains many of these historic areas.

Much of the surrounding land has been developed, and many of the buried artifacts have been searched for and taken by people with metal detectors.

[11] In March 2004, First Lady Laura Bush designated Kennesaw a Preserve America Community.

[12] Kennesaw is located in northwestern Cobb County, bordered by the city of Acworth to the northwest.

Its summit is the highest point in the Atlanta metro area, at an elevation of 1,808 feet (551 m) above sea level.

[citation needed] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 33,036 people, 12,803 households, and 8,250 families residing in the city.

In March 2008, the city of Kennesaw announced the grand opening of four new wireless areas: Swift-Cantrell Park and Adams Park, and the train depot area across from the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History.

Kennesaw is noted for its unique firearms legislation, passed in response to a handgun ban in Morton Grove, Illinois.

(b) Exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who suffer a physical or mental disability which would prohibit them from using such a firearm.

Further exempt from the effect of this section are those heads of households who are paupers or who conscientiously oppose maintaining firearms as a result of beliefs or religious doctrine, or persons convicted of a felony.A similar law was passed in 2000 in the city of Virgin, Utah, making it the second city in the United States to require residents to own guns.

[37] Nelson, Georgia; Nucla, Colorado; and Gun Barrel City, Texas, also followed suit.

Elementary schools include Big Shanty Intermediate.,[41] Bullard,[42] Chalker,[43] Hayes,[44] Kennesaw,[45] and Lewis.

In 2016, the Atlanta Blaze of Major League Lacrosse spent their first year of play as an expansion franchise with home games at Fifth Third Bank Stadium on the campus of Kennesaw State University.