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
Category Archives: Businesses
Leonard R. Rodd was born May 17, 1895, in Marion to the late G.H. Rodd and Melvina Beams. Rodd founded Rodd Realty Company and operated the business in partnership with his son, Dee L. Rodd, at 818 W. Main Street for four decades. Continue reading
On December 4, 1974, Dr. Ripley’s chiropractic office at 1825 W. Main Street was full of patients awaiting treatment. At 9:30, an hour after the office should have opened, an unanswered telephone prompted one of the patients to answer it. Upon opening a hallway door he discovered the body of Dr. Donald Ripley. Ripley had been shot seven times with a .45 caliber hand gun. Most of the efforts to uncover his murderer centered around a mysterious, well-dressed black man, but his killer was never found and remains one of Marion’s cold cases to this day. Continue reading
Dr. Joseph Green Parmley was born on a farm near Golconda on October 24, 1876, the son of Rev. George W. Parmley and Mary Daniel.
He attended Creal Springs Academy and Southern Illinois University before teaching school in Marion for four years. In 1904, he entered the University of Louisville, School of Medicine and graduated in 1908. Continue reading
During our recent ramble in the field of medical science we have thought now and then of Dr. G.J. Baker, the family doctor of our youth, and his wonderful pocket knife.
“Doc Griff” Baker, who delivered all three of the Felts boys and wrestled them through most of the diseases of childhood plus a siege of typhoid, was Mother’s first cousin. Day or night, rain or shine, he came on foot, carrying a little black bag in his hand and wearing a leather medicine case slung by a strap from his shoulder. Once he arrived everybody felt better. Continue reading