Marion County Historical Society

Name: Marion County Historical Society
Address: 169 E Church Street, Marion, OH, 43302, US
Telephone: (740) 387-4255
Price range: $

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Marion County Historical Society

The Marion County Historical Society's goal is to collect, preserve, and share the history of Marion County, Ohio.

09/01/2026

The America250 celebration is moving into its ninth month along with a change in the theme. September will feature "Marion Plays: Recreation, Sports, Crystal Lake, YMCA”

Sept. 1 – One of the first organized sports played in Marion County was baseball despite an 1847 Marion City ordinance which stated that: “It shall be unlawful to fly a kite, play ball or cricket or any other sporting amusement which could endanger the property or well-being of persons in the streets of the corporation of Marion.” Some twenty years later, the Marion Tribune newspaper reported that a “visitor from the east” had brought balls and bats with him and had organized a team of local residents. Apparently, the team had some difficulties learning the game as records show they lost their first contest by a score of 103 to 5. As the sport grew across the country, so did the utilization of safety equipment as evidenced by this 1904 patent for a “base ball catcher.”

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by Marion Community Foundation and Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

08/31/2026

August 31 –The American Legion Post 162 sponsored the veterans-only Marion Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps beginning in 1952. In 1960, the Marion Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps was formed. Two years later the Cadets Jets, a feeder corps for the Cadets, was created. The first Cadet Hall was located at 146 South High Street prior to the purchase of the former National Guard Armory at 434 West Church Street in 1968. In 1968, the first U.S. Open Junior Drum & Bugle Corps National Championship was held at Harding Stadium in Marion under the auspices of the U.S. Open Commission, an independent, non-profit organization. The Blue Rocks from Wilmington, Delaware, emerged as the champions. The competition grew rapidly with more than 10,000 spectators attending the 1970 event. After more than twenty years of competition, interest in both drum corps and the U.S. Open waned. The final Open held in 2002 and the Marion Cadets ceased operations in 2008. In 2026, however, the Marion Open Drum Corps International Competition was held in Marion in conjunction with the newly-formed Marion Arts Legacy Alliance.

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by Marion Community Foundationund and Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureauio to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

08/30/2026

August 30 – The tradition of taking family photographs at holiday and special occasions is long-established. At the turn of the 20th century, Marion was home to numerous photographers who provided an opportunity for creating a lasting memory. Among them were W.H. Moore, James Wark, and T.B. Prentice. Perhaps the most well-known was Adam Bauer, a former mechanical draftsman at the Marion Steam Shovel Company. Bauer’s motto of “Any Thing, Any Time, Any Where” was appropriate as he chronicled much of the civic and social life of Marion in the early 1900s. He was one of the first photographers in Maron to utilize motion picture cameras. Bauer also offered posed photographs utilizing various props. The Easter celebration was certainly a busy time with babies in egg shells being pulled by chicks or rabbits.

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by Marion Community Foundation and Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

08/29/2026

August 29 – While the origin of the national Labor Day holiday is unclear, the start of the celebration can be traced to the late 1880s in cities such as New York where trade unions and labor movements worked to establish a holiday to celebrate labor. One of the first mentions in the Marion Daily Star of a Labor Day celebration in Marion was in 1898 when the paper reported that “the Germans of this town and a number of other towns will join in giving a show at the fairgrounds…. It will be a grand affair and will be worthy of patronage.” Sponsors of the celebration included the Marion Deutscher Bund fraternal organization which had been formed in 1891. The society was composed of “about 100 German citizens of Marion and Marion County.”

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by Marion Community Foundation and Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

08/28/2026

August 28 - For many years, the July 4th holiday was celebrated in a unique manner in the village of LaRue. At Dutton’s blacksmith shop on Front Street, an anvil was placed upside down in the street in front of the shop. The hollow in its base was filled with gun powder after which another anvil was placed on top creating a seal between the two anvils. A wick was inserted and then ignited resulting in an explosion with the top anvil being blown skyward. If things went as planned, the flying anvil landed back atop the stationary one creating a loud ring that could be heard throughout the community.

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by and to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

08/27/2026

August 27 – The village of Prospect has long been recognized for its July 4th celebrations. In 1948, more than 5,000 people attended what was advertised as the “Second Annual Prospect Jubilee” held over the holiday weekend. Among the highlights of the event were various softball contests including one between Smitty’s All-Stars from Marion and the Prospect American Legion team. Prospect was victorious by a score of 3-2 and claimed the $25 winner’s prize. Other contest winners included Harold Cook, who hit a softball 239 feet; Dick Mulvaine, who won the base-circling contest by covering the bags (240 feet) in 9.8 seconds; and Don Griffith, who threw a softball 249 feet. All the winners received $1.50 prizes. The celebration continues to draw hundreds of visitors for entertainment, raffles, a chicken BBQ, and fireworks.

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by Marion Community Foundation and Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

08/26/2026

August 26 - The exact origin of Decoration Day is disputed; but by the mid-1860s, several states were using a designated day in late May as an occasion to remember, honor, and mourn all U.S. military personnel who had perished while serving their nation. Although it is likely that such celebrations occurred earlier, the first record of one in Marion appeared in the 1881 Marion Daily Star newspaper when the Patriotic Order of Sons of America held a celebration. Following World War II, the name of the holiday gradually changed to Memorial Day with the official change taking place in 1967. In 1933, Boy Scout Troop #11, the first Black troop in Marion, marched in the Memorial Day parade.

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by Marion Community Foundation and Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

08/25/2026

August 25 – The 1913 Marion County Chautauqua was the first held in the newly-erected steel pavilion at Garfield Park. The park location provided ample room for camping, parking for motor cars as well as hitching grounds for horses, “pure well water and city hydrant water,” and sanitary closets. Among the entertainment and enlightenment opportunities to be presented were “Science in the Sick Room,” “Cause and Cure of Worry,” operatic selections by the International Opera Company, a performance by the Hungarian Orchestra, and Lincoln Wirt with his “wonderful lecture on the Conquest of the Arctic.” The annual chautauquas continued through 1933. The pavilion continued to be utilized for a wide variety of purposes including dances, graduation ceremonies, and sporting and entertainment events. After falling into a dilapidated condition, it was razed in 1960.

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by Marion Community Foundation and Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

08/24/2026

August 24 – The First Annual Assembly of the Marion County Chautauqua was held from July 25 to 31, 1910, at the Marion County Fairgrounds. Popular in the early 1900s, the Chautauqua movement served as a national forum for the open discussion of a variety of topics such as literature, science, religion, politics, and more along with entertainment. Advertised as “The highest-class, most expensive program ever offered in one week at any Chautauqua ever held,” Marion’s event featured 41 distinct attractions at a total cost of $2.00 for a season ticket. Among the featured performances were Maud Ballington Booth who was known as the “Little Mother of the Prisons”; the Chicago Glee Club; Nicola, the Magician; the Weber Male Quartet; and Marion’s own Baker’s Concert Band. Future President Warren G. Harding was an orator on the circuit and served as the president of the Marion County Chautauqua.

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by Marion Community Foundation and Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

08/23/2026

August 23 - Marion County is a leading producer of popcorn, the home of Wyandot Snacks (formerly the Wyandot Popcorn Company), and the Wyandot Popcorn Museum. In 1981, the first Marion Popcorn Festival was held to promote Marion and its popcorn heritage. Held yearly the first weekend after Labor Day, the event includes a large parade, a festival with rides and food vendors in the downtown, as well as free nationally-known headline entertainment. Among the entertainers who have performed in Marion are the Charlie Daniels Band, REO Speedwagon, the Oak Ridge Boys, Three Dog Night, Willie Nelson, Kool & The Gang, and Blake Shelton. The event, which has been recognized as one of the “Top 100 Events in North America” by the American Bus Association, annually draws crowds in excess of 200,000 for the three-day event.

America 250-OH: Marion is a community-wide commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary, co-led by Marion Community Foundation and Marion Area Convention & Visitors Bureau to showcase the remarkable ways Marion has shaped the American story. Learn more at http://visitmarionohio.com

Address

169 E Church Street
Marion, OH
43302

Telephone

(740) 387-4255

Website

http://www.marionhistory.com/

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