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History · Marion Township

49% of Marion Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1951 on.

0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Marion Township’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Marion Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Marion Township’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Marion Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Marion Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGreetings from Marion, Illinois: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Marion Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Marion Township.

Read it all →

Marion Township was formed from Hamilton and Amboy townships in September 1854. Three years later, on March 3, 1857, the western half of the township became Harmon Township allowing Marion Township to take its present form.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Marion Township, 1876 to 1951

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Walton post office opens
  3. 1896In the archiveGreetings from Marion, Illinois
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910In the archiveSo. Illinois Retail Lumber Dealers Convention
  6. 1931Post officeThe Walton post office closes
  7. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Marion Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1910s3 items
Greetings from Marion, Illinois1896Greetings from Marion, IllinoisSo. Illinois Retail Lumber Dealers Convention1910So. Illinois Retail Lumber Dealers ConventionPublic square1910Public square
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today15 recent
Remnants of the demolished 1913-1971 county jail2019Remnants of the demolished 1913-1971 county jailRemnants of the demolished 1913-1971 county jail2019Remnants of the demolished 1913-1971 county jailA circa-1850s sofa filled with horsehair, displayed inside the Williamson County Historical Society's museum2019A circa-1850s sofa filled with horsehair, displayed i…Portion of a mural, designed by Kris Killman in 2009, on a building in downtown Marion, Illinois2019Portion of a mural, designed by Kris Killman in 2009,…A Victorian-age parlor displayed inside the Williamson County Historical Society's museum2019A Victorian-age parlor displayed inside the Williamso…A sampling of what's inside, displayed outside the Warehouse Antique Mall2019A sampling of what's inside, displayed outside the Wa…Display inside the Williamson County Historical Society's museum2019Display inside the Williamson County Historical Socie…Display inside the Williamson County Historical Society's museum2019Display inside the Williamson County Historical Socie…Display inside the Williamson County Historical Society's museum2019Display inside the Williamson County Historical Socie…Display inside the Williamson County Historical Society's museum2019Display inside the Williamson County Historical Socie…Display inside the Williamson County Historical Society's museum2019Display inside the Williamson County Historical Socie…Display inside the Williamson County Historical Society's museum2019Display inside the Williamson County Historical Socie…Display inside the Williamson County Historical Society's museum2019Display inside the Williamson County Historical Socie…Automobiles well past their prime, parked2019Automobiles well past their prime, parkedTower Square in downtown Marion, Illinois2019Tower Square in downtown Marion, Illinois
On the map

Marion Township on the map, 1951 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marion Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Marion Township on the 1951 USGS mapMarion Township on the 1982 USGS map1951Amboy sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Marion Township.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Greetings from Marion, Illinois
Retake this viewGreetings from Marion, Illinois, 1896

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Marion Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Marion Township

Nobody well known was born in Marion Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Paul FloryAmerican chemist · b. 1910
Terry BrooksAmerican writer · b. 1944
Louie BellsonAmerican jazz drummer · b. 1924
Jesse Lynch WilliamsAmerican dramatist · b. 1871
I
Isaiah RobyAmerican basketball player · b. 1998
John DevineRoad bicycle racer · b. 1985
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Walton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Walton
Gone or out of use
Morrissey SchoolschoolPalmer SchoolschoolRasmussen Landing StripairportStott Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Amboy Township1 historic placeB+Harmon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSouth Dixon TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEast Grove TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAmboy1 historic placeA−

Questions about Marion Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (18), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.