How the Jones Building Got It’s Name

For over 120 years the brick building located at 1200 Tower Square, now known to us as “Little Nashville”, has been referred to as the “Jones building” due to the fact the name “Jones” is prominently displayed on its front exterior. Attempts to figure out who Jones was has gone thwarted in the past but has now been answered.

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Fire and Water Department Status,1886-1946

Information extracted from the legends of Sanborn Insurance maps indicates the status of Marion’s fire protection status and the state of Marion’s water supply were it to be called into action for fighting fires. This map series ranges from 1886 till 1946. If there wasn’t a lot of change in the town, the maps were updated from the last one issued, and the 1946 map is an update of the 1937 map. To see the full maps, see Sanborn Maps of Marion.

Norman, J. Milton, 1870-1945, Carpenter, Merchant & Alderman

John Milton Norman, who went by Milton, was born August 11, 1870 to Ananias Norman & Eunice Delany Lee. At the time of his birth, the 1870 census revealed that the family was living near Sulphur Springs in what is now the area around Creal Springs. At the time of the census, his father was working as a carpenter and Milton had 6 siblings.

By the 1880 census, Milton was living with his parents in Marion and had 5 siblings.

In July 1895, an unmarried Milton was working as a carpenter and paid Joab Goodall $100 for Lot 5, Block 10 of Joab Goodall’s 1st Addition to Marion where he would go one to build a large two story home at 704 N. Van Buren St.

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How DeYoung Street Got its Name

It has long been suspected that DeYoung Street got its name from a family, but no DeYoung family has ever been found in census records or directories here in Marion. Marion resident, James Emery, who owns property on DeYoung Street recently found the answer located in an Abstract of Title related to his property.

It seems that on March 25, 1899, Teunis DeYoung (pronounced “tennis”) and his wife Cordelia of South Holland, Illinois, a Dutch suburb of Chicago, contracted with Joab Goodall who then owned the property to buy five parcels of land for the sum of $10,000 amounting to 144 acres. They paid $5,000 down and spread out the remaining $5,000 into six promissory notes at 6% interest to be paid yearly until 1904.

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Hudgens, Hugh, 1882-1969, Merchant, J.P. & Alderman

Hugh Hudgens was born in Southern Township of Williamson County on January 29, 1882 to Zachariah Hudgens and Mary Jane Cooksey and was one of 14 children in the family. He attended Marion grade school, Marion High School and a commercial course at Creal Springs College graduating in 1900 according to his obituary.

Hugh married Mary Ann Lilley on July 17, 1903 in Williamson County and in September 1905 paid $150 for a lot at 901 W. Maplewood Street in Marion where they went on to build the home they both would spend the rest of their lives.

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