Marion

History

The Marion High School, Marion County Court House, Marion County Library, Marion County Museum and Marion Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some sixty years after the first permanent settlement in South Carolina, a group of English settlers sent out by the Lords Proprietor landed in Georgetown and moved up the Pee Dee River to the junction of the Little Pee Dee River about halfway between Georgetown and the present town of Marion. Among these families were Brittons, Davis, Flaglers, Giles, Graves and Tyler. At about the same time, and possibly on the same ship from England, came Captain John Godbold, a retired English sea captain. He moved farther up the Big Pee Dee and settled on Catfish Creek. The creek is southwest of and very near to the present city limits of Marion. During its early colonial years the area was part of Craven County. When Craven was divided, this segment of land was placed in Georgetown District and was known as Gilesboro after Colonel Hugh Giles, an American Revolutionary war hero who fought under Francis Marion. In 1785, another division was made and the name "Liberty" was used for a short time to designate this area. On December 17, 1847, when by an act of the South Carolina Legislature a charter was issued to the town, its official name was given as "Marion". The name honors General Francis Marion, a hero of the Revolutionary War. A commission was appointed by the South Carolina Legislature to locate the site for a court house. Court was scheduled for the first Monday in March 1800. The court house was not complete, so it was held in a log building on Colonel Hugh Giles' plantation about two miles below Marion. The section was called Gilesboro or Gilesboro Court House for some time after. The…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  223
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  153
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  152
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  150
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  125
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  105
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  102
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  102

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2012-07-29
  7 km NNW of Wallace, South Carolina
• M 2.9 — 2011-03-21
  9 km S of Cordova, North Carolina
• M 3.7 — 2006-09-25
  7 km W of Rowland, North Carolina
• M 3.4 — 2006-09-22
  4 km WSW of Blenheim, South Carolina