A few of the articles extracted from a special 1929 Progress Edition of the Marion Daily Republican newspaper reflects the state of the city of Marion on its 90th year of existence as follows.
Marion the county seat of Williamson County is the oldest city in the county and as such is one of the most stable cities of the rich Southern Illinois or Egyptian coal fields where it is with its more than one and a half million dollars’ worth of public improvements the home city of 15,000 people.
With its affairs administered under the commission form of city government Marion has kept pace with the development of this vast industrial area and today stands unexcelled by any city of its size in municipal improvements, stability of business, standards of living and in number and standard of homes owned by the families who live in them.
Immense Trade Area
Based upon an official city compiled census of 11,722 in 1926, the figures include only part of the thickly populated territory bounded by the city limits of twenty years ago which do not include thickly peopled suburbs to the west, northwest and east. Marion’s trading area includes Johnston City with its population of 8,000, Carterville with its 4,500 population, Creal Springs with 1,200, Crab Orchard with 250 and Pittsburg with 700 persons.
And the people who live in Marion reap the benefits of the most modern municipal improvements. Twenty mile of pavement reaches into every section of the city while under the streets run many miles of pipes carrying pure, clean water to the homes from Marion’s $673,000 municipal water plant. Other miles of sewer mains laid at a cost of $121,339.75 carry the city sewage to the new $73,000 sewage disposal plant located south of the city.
Two City Parks
The city owns two city parks, one of eight acres in the northeast section of the city and the other of similar size near the heart of the city where the water plant pump station and sub-reservoir are located.
The city government is housed in the municipal building at the northeast corner of the square. On the first floor fronting on the square is the entrance to the council chambers, office of mayor and city clerk and the city water department. Entrances on the west of the building lead to the police headquarters, office of the police magistrate on the first floor and assembly hall and rooms used as business offices on the second floor.
Owns Parking Spaces
The entire block adjacent to the square on which the city building is located is the property of the municipality, as is the block across East Union Street to the north and another block fronting on West Union Street. These blocks of valuable property are free parking grounds for business visitors to the city. On the latter block the brick building housing the fire department is located.
Maplewood and Rose Hill Cemeteries, the latter the site of the beautiful Goddard Chapel, which was donated by Leroy A. Goddard of Chicago, former Marion citizen, are also the property of the municipality. Rose Hill Annex, a third beautiful cemetery is controlled by a private corporation.
The Marion Carnegie Library owned by the city of Marion is governed by a library board named by the head of the city government.
Ninety seven acres of farm land, southeast and south of the city are also the property of the city.
Municipal Airport
Located 300 miles south of Chicago, 100 miles southeast of St. Louis, midway between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, in the center of that portion known as Egypt, Marion is accessible to all points by the most modern conveyances. Marine is served by the Illinois Central, Chicago and Eastern Illinois, Missouri Pacific, and Burlington railroads as well as by the Egyptian Transportation System which has its main offices in Marion. In addition, Marion is headquarters for the Egyptian Airways operating from the municipal airport here, furnishing air travel service at all times.
Simultaneous with its advancement in other lines, Marion was first among Southern Illinois cities to establish a municipally controlled airport. Forty acres of land east of the city was secured and equipped as a licensed airplane landing and conveyed to the management of the Egyptian Airways, an Illinois corporation. The Airways Corporation operates the airport for the municipality under the direct control of the city government.
Mayor—Elisha M. Thurmond
Commissioners
Public Property — Gottlieb J. Frick
Finance — James H. Felts
Health and Safely — A. M. Garrison
Streets and Alleys — Roy Blackburn
City Clerk — Harry Adkins
Police Department
Chief of Police — Clyde Bailey Policemen — Robert Ramsey, Dalton Murrah, John Smothers
Police Magistrate—Maxie McAllister
City Attorney — W. H. Fowler
Water Department
Superintendent — W. H. Rix
Bookkeeper and Collector — Mrs. Flossie Deaton
Meterman — George Clore
Pumpmen — Amos Ingram and Henry Rix
Fire Department
Assistant Chief — Arlie Ing
Street Department
Commissioner — Hosea Robinson
Sewer Department
Chief — Harry Cash
Inspector and Caretaker of Disposal Plant — William Connell
Cemetery Department Sexton — Glenn Goddard
Health Department
City Health Officer—Dr. Edward Reid
Mule Sunk in Mud
E.N. Rice, President of the Illinois Mutual Union, and a former county and city officer has seen considerable progress in Marion in the past few years.
He remembers back with pleasure, the time, many years ago, when as a member of the city council, he voted for the sidewalk ordinance that reduced the mud hazards of that day and he recalls with equal pleasure the furor that was created when he and the other city dads voted to prohibit the tying of horses on the public square. He lost several farmer customers because of that vote, he said.
Commenting upon the large amount of paving that Marion now enjoys he said that at one time he remembers seeing East Main Street so muddy that a board was put across it at the public square and teams were forbidden to drive down the street. On one occasion he said that he saw a mule sing in the mud, in front of the present Standard Oil filling station and suffocate to death because they couldn’t rescue it. On several occasions he said he remembers poking a stick down on the main street to a depth of four feet.
(Extracted from the 1929 Progress Edition of the Marion Daily Republican)