City of Marion
Location in the state of Indiana
Coordinates: 40°32′57″N 85°39′53″W / 40.54917, -85.66472
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Grant
Area
- City	sq mi (km²)
- Land	sq mi ( km²)
- Water	sq mi ( km²)
Elevation	ft ( m)
Population (2000)
- City
- Density	/sq mi (/km²)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	46952-46953
Area code(s)	765
FIPS code	18-469082
GNIS feature ID	04386113

Marion (IPA: [ˈmɛ.ɹjən]) is a city in Grant County, Indiana, United States. The population was 31,320 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Grant County.⁶ It is named for Francis Marion, a Brigadier General from South Carolina in the American Revolutionary War.

Since 2003, former Olympic skater Wayne Seybold has been Marion's mayor. Marion is also noted for being the hometown of legendary actor James Dean and for being the site where Oscar winning actress Julia Roberts married Grammy winning Texas singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett in the summer of 1993.

Geography

Marion is located at 40°32′57″N, 85°39′53″W (40.549140, -85.664681),¹ along the Mississinewa River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 34.6 km² (13.3 mi²). 34.4 km² (13.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.30%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 31,320 people, 12,462 households, and 7,626 families residing in the city. The population density is 909.2/km² (2,355.5/mi²). There are 13,820 housing units at an average density of 401.2/km² (1,039.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 79.64% White, 15.57% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.43% from other races, and 2.18% from two or more races. 3.60% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 12,462 households out of which 27.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.1% are married couples living together, 14.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% are non-families. 33.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 14.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.30 and the average family size is 2.91.

In the city the population is spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 12.5% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 84.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $30,440, and the median income for a family is $37,717. Males have a median income of $30,258 versus $23,467 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,378. 16.9% of the population and 12.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 23.8% of those under the age of 18 and 11.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

History

The Battle of the Mississinewa was fought in December of 1812, just 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 the current 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.

Founding

When Martin Boots and David Branson each donated thirty acres 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 "laughing waters." So rapid had been the tide of settlement that it followed by only 19 years the Battle of Mississinewa,  miles ( km) downstream, where U.S. troops and Indians had fought a bloody, pre-dawn encounter in 1812.

With the formation of Grant County in 1831, Marion was established as the county seat and its future was assured. The river provided water supply, power, and drainage and it bequeathed a natural beauty as it flowed at the base of hills that marched away on either side. Along with at least 36 other communities in the U.S., Marion was named for the Revolutionary War General Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" of South Carolina.

Gas Boom and Growth

Marion grew slowly for more than 50 years as an agricultural trading center supported by a sprinkling of small farm- and forest-related industries. Indians were a common sight as they wandered in from Indiana's last reservation, with its Indian school, Baptist church and cemetery,  miles ( km) away.

In the 1880s, fields of natural gas were discovered across much of east-central Indiana, and Grant County began to grow at a dizzying pace. Gas City and Matthews were carved out of raw farmland and launched as speculative boom towns, each absorbing existing tiny villages. They attracted several thousand residents before the gas failed and most industries left. As late as the 1940s, Matthews resembled a Western ghost town, before it attracted eleven glass factories and seduced the professional baseball team away from Indianapolis. Grant County's only covered bridge remains there as a link to the past.

VA hospital campus (left) south of Marion's downtown.

However, the gas boom left its legacy. A few industries remained, particularly glass manufacturers. A National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, established in 1888, and integrated in 1995 with the former Fort Wayne Veterans Affairs Medical Center, is now known as the Veterans Affairs Northern Indiana Health Care System—Marion Campus. On a picturesque site of  acres ( km²) with a National Cemetery, the modern health care facility employs 800 persons and has 243 hospital beds as well as a 180-bed nursing home care unit at the Marion Campus. Taylor University, lured to Upland in 1893, is consistently ranked among the top three regional liberal arts colleges in the Midwest by U.S. News and World Report. Indiana Wesleyan University (the largest private University in Indiana) finds its home in Marion (since 1920) and has recently been named one of the best Master's Universities by U.S. News and World Report. IWU was Marion College before 1989, when its current name was established.

1930 Lynching

One of Marion's darker moments in history was the last organized lynching in the American North. On August 7, 1930, an angry mob of an estimated 10,000 gathered at the city jail. Inside were three young African American men accused of raping a Caucasian woman and killing her boyfriend. The boys, Thomas Shipp, Abram Smith, and James Cameron, were dragged from the jail and severely beaten. Shipp and Smith were eventually hanged, but Cameron's life was spared. Until his death, Cameron was an influential activist for African American rights; he was the founder of America's Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.^[1]

Twentieth-Century Industrial Development

Marion's prosperity plateaued between the end of the gas boom, just prior to World War I, when the gas boom ended, and 1955, when General Motors located a stamping and tool plant there. A new era launched overnight, raising the sights of local residents who began to think in unprecedented numbers and vastly expanded community potential. Except for bedroom communities near metropolitan centers, Marion's growth during the 1950s exceeded all but one Indiana city in the 10,000-100,000 population group.

Although Marion's present industry is automotive centered, Thomson Consumer Electronics produces television picture tubes and other factories turn out paper products, foundry products, machinery, wire, and cable. The paper plate industry was born in Marion and in its infancy, five of the nation's nine plants were located here. Agriculture is a multi-million dollar business centering around corn, hogs, and soybeans, and supplemented by such specialty crops as tomatoes. Thomson's RCA closed its doors in 2004, leaving Marion in an economic slump. The town continues efforts to draw businesses to replace the jobs lost by Thomson's closure. On June 13, 2007, the Thomson building's northern portion was destroyed by a fire.

Marion Today

Today, Marion is probably most well-known as the home of Indiana Wesleyan University, which is the largest private university in Indiana and the largest evangelical Christian university in the Midwest. The extensive Marion High School campus includes an impressive 1,468 seat community auditorium. The Marion Philharmonic Orchestra and the Marion Civic Theatre provide musical and dramatic entertainment. The seven-time state basketball champions, Marion Giants, play in the 7,500 seat Bill Green Athletic Arena. The city operates a 2.75 mile Riverwalk from downtown to Matter Park, and there is a $1,000,000 YMCA memorial to war veterans. A publicly-owned mansion, the Hostess House, is used for social functions, and Marion General Hospital has been nationally-accredited for approximately a half-century.

A central city renaissance which began about 1980 includes a county office and security complex, a new city building, an enclosed specialty mall, and just a few blocks away, IWU's $11.5 million vocational training center for both traditional students and adult education.

Christmas City U.S.A.

Christmas City U.S.A. is a local non-profit organization promoting the Christmas season in Marion and Grant County. They proudly organize and sponsor the Annual Christmas Parade each year the Saturday before Thanksgiving to kick off the Holiday season.

It all began in 1965 when the organization had a vision to expand the holiday season beyond the traditional cards and private parties. Directors wanted to foster human relations among residents of all ages and public relations toward nonresidents. In 1970, Christmas City and the Chamber of Commerce joined forces to promote a new look for the city. Postcards, bumper stickers, billboards were designed to establish the city as Christmas City U.S.A. The name was even trademarked to preserve the city's identity.[1]

Famous Marionites

• James Dean, actor. Dean starred in "East of Eden," "Giant," and "Rebel Without A Cause" before he was tragically killed at the age of 24 in 1955. He was born in Marion and spent much of his childhood in Fairmount.
• Zach Randolph, professional basketball player, New York Knicks
• Willis Van Devanter, former Supreme Court Justice, one of the Four Horsemen (Supreme Court). He was born in Marion in 1859. In 1910, President Taft appointed Van Devanter to the position of U.S. Supreme Court Justice where he served for 26 years.
• Kenesaw Mountain Landis, First Commissioner of Baseball, practiced law in Marion.
• Caleb Blood Smith, Secretary of the Interior under Abraham Lincoln, served as a prosecuting attorney in Marion.
• George Washington Steele, Indiana Congressman and first governor of the Oklahoma Territory
• George Washington Steele Jr., zeppelin pilot who crossed the Atlantic four years before Charles Lindbergh.
• Cole Porter, songwriter, was raised in nearby Peru, Indiana and studied music in Marion.
• Chad Curtis, former professional baseball player
• Jeff King, former professional baseball player
• Stretch Murphy, Hall of Fame basketball player
• Jim Gallagher, Jr., professional golfer, golf analyst for USA Network
• Steven Owen Shields, poet, author of "Daimonion Sonata"
• Jim Davis, creator of "Garfield," the lasagna-loving comic strip cat, was born in Marion and reared near Fairmount. "Garfield" appears in thousands of newspapers around the world. Davis' studio, Paws Inc., is located near Muncie, Indiana.
• Mildred Dilling born 1894, became the most renowned woman harpist in the world. Harpo Marx, Bob Hope, Deanna Durbin, and Sir Laurence Olivier were among Dilling's students. During her career, Dilling performed seven recitals at the White House in Washington, DC.
• Elisabeth Hamilton Friermood authored nearly 20 children's books, many of them based on the simple life of growing up in Marion. Friermood was born in Marion in 1903 and worked at the Marion Public Library.
• Ed Blinn, Jr., one of GQ's Men of the Year.
• SuperNatural, Rapper and founding member of the Freestyle Fellowship, a Bay Area, California hip hop group.

Notes

1. ^ David Bradley, "Anatomy of a Murder", The Nation, June 12, 2006, p. 32-36.

External links

• Marion discussion forum

Coordinates: 40.54914° N 85.664681° W

• Grant County government website
• Marion-Grant County Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Marion Public Library website
• WikiMarion: Open-licensed articles and interviews on Marion's history, written by local high school students
• The Chronicle-Tribune
• Mississinewa 1812 Reenactment
• Official Christmas City Walkway of Lights Website
• Community Foundation of Grant County, Indiana, Inc.
• WBAT 1400-AM
• WMRI 860-AM
• WCJC 99.3-FM
• WXXC 106.9-FM

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