Category Archives: All Marion Content

All content related to Marion Illinois

Davis, Martin K. 1843-1936, Medal of Honor Recipient

Posted on by December 24, 2013

Medal of Honor 1862According to available records, Martin K. Davis was born in Marion, Illinois on March 12, 1843. It is believed that Davis was orphaned at an early age. At age 19, he joined the 116th Illinois Infantry in August 1862 at Stonington, Christian Co., Illinois as a Private.

On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The plan called for a storming party of volunteers to build a bridge across a moat and plant scaling ladders against the enemy embankment in advance of the main attack. Continue reading →

1923, Rt 13 to Carbondale Becomes a Hard Road

Posted on by December 23, 2013

Old Route 13 in 1923The road leading to Carbondale from Marion that we now know as new Route 13 is a far cry from what or where it was in the early days when it was no more than a trail. Before Crab Orchard Lake was constructed around 1939, and a section of Route 13 was re-located around it, there was old Route 13, a narrow road extending out West Main Street in Marion and running almost straight, dead west to Carbondale, joining East Walnut in Carbondale, about a half mile south of where new Route 13 now intersects Giant City Road. Continue reading →

1973, Marion News in Brief

Posted on by February 17, 2014

1973 was a light and dark year for Marion citizens. On the light side, the property tax, often a staple of city financing, was eliminated in this year. The city annexed three parcels of real estate, including Scotsboro, for a total of almost 400 additional acres. One of the commercial annexes, included property that was part of the city’s first industrial park off N. Carbon Street, and would serve as a location for Marion’s third bank, the Peoples Bank of Marion. Ray Fosse Day was held November 27th to celebrate a visit by Fosse after playing with the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. Continue reading →

1980, Record High Temperatures Noted

Posted on by December 22, 2013

When the heat wave of July 1980 was still in force, this article appeared in the Marion Daily Republican notating previous heat waves in the area’s past.

Mercury Hit 115 in 1901

While the present heat wave in Southern Illinois has some aspects that put it into the running as the worst ever, it has not yet topped the record for the hottest day. That distinction, according to old files of the Daily Republican, goes to a day in July, 1901 when the official reading at a weather station in Centralia was 115 degrees. Continue reading →

1980 Late Spring Windstorms

Posted on by September 21, 2024

July 2, 1980 Windstorm
July 2, 1980 Windstorm
July 2, 1980 Windstorm
July 2, 1980 Windstorm
July 2, 1980 Windstorm
July 2, 1980 Windstorm
July 2, 1980 Windstorm
July 2, 1980 Windstorm
July 2, 1980 Windstorm
July 2, 1980 Windstorm

The end of June through July 1980, found most of the country, including Southern Illinois in the grip of a massive heat wave that brought about drought conditions, searing inescapable heat and periodic high winds and storms.

In Southern Illinois, a damaging windstorm on Sunday, June 29th was followed, only a few days later, on Wednesday, July 2nd, by another damaging windstorm, which was reported to be, several times the intensity of the first, causing major damage throughout Southern Illinois. Continue reading →