Marion, Illinois
| Marion | |
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| City | |
| City of Marion | |
Marion town square
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 Marion
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| Coordinates: 37°43′49″N 88°55′49″W / 37.73028°N 88.93028°WCoordinates: 37°43′49″N 88°55′49″W / 37.73028°N 88.93028°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Williamson County |
| Founded | August 21, 1839 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Robert L. Butler (I) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 16.21 sq mi (42.0 km2) |
| • Land | 15.99 sq mi (41.4 km2) |
| • Water | 0.23 sq mi (0.6 km2) 1.42% |
| Elevation | 518 ft (158 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 17,193 |
| • Density | 1,250.2/sq mi (482.6/km2) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Postal Code | 62959 |
| Area code(s) | +1 (618) |
| FIPS | 17-46916 |
| GNIS-ID | 1808160 |
| Website | marionillinois |
Marion is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,193 at the 2010 census. It is part of a dispersed urban area that developed out of the early 20th Century coal fields.
Today Marion serves as the largest retail trade center in Southern Illinois with its central location along Interstate 57 and Illinois Route 13 (colloquially known as Southern Illinois' "Main Street"). It is home to the Illinois Star Centre mall and the Southern Illinois Miners baseball team, and is in the process of being selected for Illinois' first STAR Bonds District for the proposed Boulder Creek at The Hill development.
The city is part of the Marion-Herrin Micropolitan Area and is a part of the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area with 123,272 residents, the sixth most populous Combined statistical area in Illinois. The city is also part of the unofficial Metro Lakeland area.
Following the creation of Williamson County out of the south half of Franklin County by the Illinois General Assembly, three commissioners appointed by the lawmakers met at Bainbridge, Illinois, on August 19, 1839, for the purpose of locating a new county seat as close to the center of the county as possible. The next day, August 20, they laid out a town of 20 acres (81,000 m2) with a public square about one-quarter of a mile east of the county's center, but a point on top of a slight hill of 448 feet (137 m) above sea level. The site sat in a small open grassland known as Poor Prairie. For a name, they chose Marion to honor American Revolutionary War hero General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion.
William and Bethany Benson had entered the quarter-quarter section of land that contained the future site of Marion just the previous year on September 8, 1838. He had lived in the county at least since 1817, and was the first settler to enter land in Poor Prairie. At the time the commissioners platted Marion, he had a small crop of corn and wheat growing over what became the public square.
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