Marion’s post office opened in 1835, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #62 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
Most of Marion was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1999. Its Register listings are the Crittenden County Courthouse and the Crittenden County Bank and Trust Company. Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1880.
The Marion post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Gavin (1888), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 199 in 18802020 census: 13,752191 years
How historic is Marion?
C+
More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Marion post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Marion’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marion is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #62 of 123 in Arkansas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marion’s overall grade.
Arkansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Arkansas town has 20.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Marion’s 1.5 sits below most of its state (25% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Marion’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Although Marion was incorporated in 1896, the community predates that significantly. The site of Marion was part of Louisiana (New Spain) from 1764 to 1803, when it became Louisiana (New France). Some of the oldest land titles in the area are from Spanish land grants from a time prior to the Louisiana Purchase. After the Louisiana Purchase the area was part of the Arkansas Territory. During the 1830s the Trail of Tears (the forced removal of Native Americans from Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi) passed through the area.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1913Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Marion
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The Marion post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Marion rank for history?
Marion is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #62 of 123 in Arkansas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Marion?
Two places: the Crittenden County Courthouse (listed 1977) and the Crittenden County Bank and Trust Company (1984).
How old are the homes in Marion?
0.8% of Marion’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1999.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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