The village was laid out by John Park in 1841 and named Marion after the Revolutionary War hero General Francis Marion. The Indiana Register first advertised lots for sale on September 1, 1841. Marion became incorporated as a borough in June 1869. The post office used a name distinct from the town (Brady Post Office) until December 26, 1890, when both were changed to Marion Center. In 1885, New York banker Adrien Iselin purchased the Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railway. A branch near the Jefferson-Indiana County Line (Indiana Junction) led south into Indiana County ending at Vintondale. The tracks from Jefferson County into Indiana County were first laid near Juneau in October 1902. Trains ran through Marion Center by April 1903. The first passenger train stopped at Marion Center on May 3, 1904. The last train, the Hoodlbug, left on June 10, 1950.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marion Center. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909Smicksburg 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 Center.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Marion Center in 1913
Passages that mention Marion Center, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Brushvalley township and embarked in the woolen manufacturing business, later removing to Meehaniesburg, and from the latter city went to Marion Center, but about four years later located in Huntingdon county and started a mill. Subsequently he went to Allegheny county, where he remained for a short period, then returning to Marion Center, and
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Horace J. Thompson, of Marion Center. There he carried on faruiing and stock raising until he became interested in the mercantile business, conducting his first store in Grant township for two years. Then he became established at Eastrun, in the same township, where he carried on a general business for eight years, in 1904 buying the business and
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 Center, 1826 to 1909
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1841, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Marion Center’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1870 counted 310 people here.
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), 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 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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