Wimpey’s Café was a converted trolley car diner that was located at 106 S. Court, squeezed into a small lot between the Marion Motel Courts and a corner gas station located at the intersection of W. Main and S. Court Streets. It was established by Bunice Tyner in 1953. Tyner also operated numerous taverns in Marion and the surrounding area since 1941. Continue reading
Tag Archives: fire
James Bishop Morray was born in Kentucky in 1821. Due to the early deaths of his mother and father, he was raised by an uncle, William Bishop, in Pope County, Illinois. While still a young man he returned to his home state of Kentucky to work for William Wyatt, eventually marrying his daughter, Izzarilda Wyatt in 1842.
In 1844, the Morray and Wyatt families moved to Illinois, purchasing several parcels of land in Creal Springs and Stonefort Townships. During the 1860’s and 1870’s James became the largest landowner in Johnson County, eventually owning thousands of acres in Johnson and Williamson Counties. Continue reading
Insurance adjusters and business owners were engaged Friday in a study of the damage caused by Wednesday night’s fire which destroyed the remodeled New Marion Hotel Continue reading
Fire Wednesday night gutted the New Marion Hotel Building on West Main Street west of the C &EI railroad station, destroying three businesses on the ground floor and seven apartments upstairs. Continue reading