1974, Early Coal Miner’s Wages and Striking

1910 Coal Mine StrikeThis article, written in 1974 by Homer Butler, notates typical wages received by local coal miners and the effects of striking for higher wages on the miners and their families from just after the turn of the century to the depression.

“My father came home from the mines one day in the spring of 1910 wearing a pair of new elk hide shoes, and bearing the news that the miners were going out on strike. The shoes had cost $3 which was more than a day’s pay for a miner. They were the cheapest shoes available, not much good for rough work, but they would do for wear while hunting work to tide the family over during the strike which would last nobody knew how long. Continue reading

1954, Paving Machine Invented in Marion, Illinois

Paving Machine Invented in Marion Will Revolutionize the Industry

W.F. “Frankie” Merritt, 428 S. Future Street, Marion, has invented a machine which may revolutionize paving operations in the United States. Merritt, who is chief mechanic for the Regenhardt Construction Company of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, has developed a paving machine which requires no forms, but deposits the fresh concrete directly on the new road, saving approximately ten per cent in the cost of operation, and reducing the number of workers. With a traveling sub-grade machine, the results are practically the same as paving with forms. Continue reading

1954, Improvements for Marion and Vicinity Planned

Over Two Million Dollars in Improvements For Marion and Vicinity Planned For 1954

Over two million dollars will be spent in Marion and vicinity during this year on new construction and the purchase of right–of-way for relocating of State Highway 13, according to figures compiled this week by the Marion Daily Republican. Continue reading

Marion in 1861

By the start of the War Between the States, Marion was an extremely small town compared to what it is today.

The Illinois General Assembly provided Marion a town charter in 1851. Earlier, the legislature provided for a committee to plat out a county seat at the same time Williamson County was separated from Franklin County. Continue reading