Marion’s post office opened in 1836, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #140 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it
12 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Webster, George, Jr. and Marie Daugherty, House, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 130 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1850.
The Marion post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Grant Court House (1832) and Grant (1849), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 703 in 18502020 census: 28,310190 years
How historic is Marion?
A
More historic than 91% 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 91% of U.S. towns, #140 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Marion’s overall grade.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Marion’s 51.2 sits above most of its state (75% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 141 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). 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.
The Battle of the Mississinewa was fought in December 1812, north of the current city of Marion, as an expeditionary force sent by William Henry Harrison against the Miami villages. Today, the battle is reenacted every fall by residents of Grant County and many reenactors and enthusiasts from throughout the United States and Canada during the annual Mississinewa 1812 festival, the largest War of 1812 reenactment in the United States. When Martin Boots and David Branson each donated 30 acres (120,000 m2) of land in 1831 for the site of Marion, they chose a location on the left bank of the swift, scenic river which the Miami Indians had named "Mississinewa," meaning "Falling water." So rapid had been the tide of settlement that it followed by only 19 years the Battle of Mississinewa, 7 miles (11 km) downstream, where federal troops and Indians had fought a bloody, pre-dawn encounter in 18…
Passages that mention Marion, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Monongalia, Marion and Taylor Counties, West Virginia. Comprising about five hundred sketches of the prominent1895Read the page →
Read the text
constructed long stretches on important raildepot grounds. He built thirteen miles of the Fairmont, Morgantown and Pittsburg railroad, in Marion county ; five miles of the Greenbrier and Grafton railroad; thirteen miles of railroad at Sewell mountain, in Upshur county, for the Camden system; and a thirteen mile railroad for the Longdale Coal and Iron company. He
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Marion, 1832 to 1993
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marion. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Marion sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Marion.
Every building
Marion, building by building, 1887–1920
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.
The Marion post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Marion rank for history?
Marion is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #140 of 593 in Indiana. 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?
12 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Webster, George, Jr. and Marie Daugherty, House (a National Historic Landmark since 1993), and the Aaron Swayzee House (listed 1983, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Marion Downtown Commercial Historic District and the Marion Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Historic District, with 130 contributing buildings. 141 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Marion?
23% of Marion’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (13), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (12), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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