The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Marion Lodge #800 Continue reading
Monthly Archives: February 2013
Vicksburg Village location
Vicksburg was laid out February 22, 1872, in Section 13 of West Marion Township and recorded in Book of Deed Z, page 182. There were 70 lots and the street was 50 feet wide. The village had a store, a mill and a blacksmith shop. One did not have to wait as long to get service at the blacksmith shop as one did in Marion. Business was not as rushing in Vicksburg as it was in Marion. Continue reading
After a ground breaking in 1989, construction crews worked throughout 1990 and most of 1991 building the largest commercial development in the history of Marion, Illinois. Continue reading
In August 1972, a newly formed corporation called American Train Heritage, Inc. purchased their first piece of a projected steam railroad tour train dream for the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad. Continue reading
Williamson County, Illinois 1945 map
Before there was a Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, nearly the entire refuge was a heavily secured ordnance plant for the production of bombs and ammunition to supply the needs of World War II. A number of roads and railroad spurs used to weave in and out of various bunker storage locations with security checkpoints. This 1945 map shows the magnitude of the impact of WW II on the area.
(Map from 1995 History Edition of the Marion Daily Republican)