Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Marion

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Marion

Marion’s post office opened in 1846, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Marion was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Hopkins House. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1910.

1846first post office
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Marion began

When was Marion founded?

1846

The Marion post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 226 in 19102020 census: 623180 years
Founding year: the first Marion post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Marion’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Marion are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 989 in 1980; 623 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1846: 180 years of Marion.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Marion’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Marion, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 989

Peaked at 989 in 1980; 623 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Marion’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Marion, 1846 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe Marion post office opens
  3. 1850BuiltHopkins House is built
  4. 1861Born hereWalt Goldsby is born here
  5. 1866Born hereLee Emmett Thomas is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1915Born hereAllen Wheelis is born here
  8. 1935Born hereJohn David Crow is born here
  9. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 989
The story

How Marion came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Marion.

Read it all →

Little is known about the early history of Marion, but it is believed that the first settlers of the area were the family of a man named David Stewart who came from Marion, Alabama in 1832. This has caused confusion as some sources state this is how the town got its name, while others argue it was named after the Lieutenant Colonel and later Brigadier General Francis Marion of the American Revolutionary War. Also known as the "swamp fox".

Marion was a part of Ouachita Parish until 1839 when it became a part of the new Union Parish.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Marion, decade by decade

Today1 recent
LAMap-doton-Marion2004LAMap-doton-Marion
On the map

Marion on the map, 1956 to 1988

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

Marion on the 1956 USGS mapMarion on the 1988 USGS map1956Haile 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.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Marion

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Hopkins House
Hopkins House, built 1850
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Carolina I1
Hopkins HouseCarolina I · Built 1850

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Marion

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
John David CrowAmerican football player and coach, college ath… · b. 1935
L
Lee Emmett ThomasAmerican politician · b. 1866
W
Walt GoldsbyAmerican baseball player · b. 1861
A
Allen WheelisAmerican psychoanalyst · b. 1915
J
Jim BrightAmerican football player, safety · b. 1952
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Marion’s post office has been open since 1846.

Gone or out of use
Linville High Schoolschool

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

Questions about Marion’s history

What year was Marion founded?

The Marion post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Marion?

One place: the Hopkins House (listed 1983).

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 Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.