Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Marion was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1933 on and old-book passages.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Marion’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Marion yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Marion is a town in Grant County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 629 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 572 to 629 (+10%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Marion, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Boscobel town and city are included in one district, which also takes in a slice from the northern portion of the town of Marion. The amount raised annually for school purposes approximates $3,000. The school is graded into seven departments, namely, First, Second and Third Primary; First and Second Intermediate, Grammar grades and High School. The grades below the high school have each one teacher. The high school is under the immediate charge of the Principal, who has one assistant. This higher branch was established under the high school law of 1875, Prof. John Brindley being the first Principal. The first class graduated the following year, the graduating exercises being held in Ruka's Hall, June 22, 1876. The
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.
Weddings 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.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Marion.
Nobody well known was born in Marion itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
