Palo Alto College

SMALL TOWN HISTORY:
Marion, Texas

Interview with James Huebinger

      Origins of Marion

      Marion, Texas was founded in 1877. The town was founded as a major railway stop to get Texas ready for exports being brought in from ports in the Gulf of Mexico. It was one of the main ports in Texas by the G.H. and S.A Railroad company. G. H. and S.A. stands for Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio. The G.H. and S.A. Railroad Company reached Marion with the railroad construction in 1870.

                                                               Marion City Hall                                                                                Grain Stocks                                                 

      Thomas W. Pierce is the founding father of Marion. He owned the G.H. and S.A. Railroad Company which later became a part of of Southern Pacific Railroad. Pierce purchased the land where Marion is presently located to build his railway stop in Texas. Pierce planned the town of Marion himself and laid it out on 36 blocks. The town of Marion was named after Mr. Pierce's daughter, Miss Marion Pierce.

back to top

     

      Economy & History

      The town of Marion is a very small town. According to a survey taken in 1990, the amount of land in Marion is 2.28 square kilometers. Marion has small farms and there is only one major factory in Marion today. The name of the factory is SAFECO. The SAFECO company makes brass fittings and valves. The Hild Bros. Store is the only grocery store in Marion today. The town also has a meat market. The meat market is the only one in town. The name of the meat market is Penshorn's. The town of Marion presently has one hardware store and one feedstore. The Wayne Feedstore building is a rather old historical building. The building itself is over 130 years old. Cotton and corn grains were the biggest exports out of Marion in the early 1900's through the 1950's.

      The city of Marion was incorporated in 1933. The first mayor of Marion was C.A. Krueger. He served fom 1933 to about 1949. The city election in is set for the first Saturday in April each year. The mayor is elected to a two year term. Mr. Krueger was elected to five two-year terms.

      The Marion Water Works System was operational by 1936. Before it was created, the only source of water was from wells. Before the Marion Water Works System, the fire department had no way of putting out fires that plagued homes and businesses. The Water Works System was such a big event in Marion, a Water Works celebration was held in 1936 to celebrate. A parade was held and many games were played.

                                                                              Feedstore (building over 130 yrs old)                                            Immaculate Conception Church   


back to top

      Historical Events

      Different parts of history had an impact on the town of Marion. The Great Depression affected the community as it did any other community. People went jobless and if they did have a job, they would work for .30-.50 cents a day. The people in the town of Marion did not go hungry during the Great Depression because they had gardens to grow vegetables. They also had cattle for milk and meat purposes. The event that brought Marion, Texas out of the Great Depression was World War II. Another important part of history was the introduction of the cotton gin. The cotton gin had a huge impact because cotton was largely exported out of Marion. According to locals, Marion was "Cotton Country."

                                                                                                                                                          Hild Brothers Grocery Store  (over 50 yrs old)

back to top

click here for interview  

                                            
                                                                                          Marion Firestation          

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Huebinger, James. Personal Interview:
      " I really learned a lot of things from Mr. Huebinger. He provided me with great information and facts that helped make this project possible.

Bryan, J. L. The New Handbook of Texas. The Texas State Historical Association, 1996.
     "This source was a good source. Provided some relatively useful information."

http://www.pe.net/~rksnow/txcountymarion.htm :
      "This was useful with census counts and the distance of land in square kilometers."

Weber, Mark. "Marion: Then and Now":
     "This book can be only found at the Marion Public Library. I found it very useful because it goes into detail about the early beginnings of Marion."

go to PAC Library

Return to Small Town Research Projects Index

back to top