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Marion
Town Site - Texas Centennial Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2010 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Marion was the
first of Angelina
County's four county seats. In the late 1820s, the site was known
as McNeill's Landing since it was the terminus of steamboat
traffic on the Angelina River. By this fact, it became the center
of Angelina County commerce, connecting the inland town with coastal
Sabine City - and the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite the river connection, growth was slow. In 1846 it was named
county seat and renamed to honor General Francis Marion, the
"Swamp Fox" of the American Revolution. The first courthouse was a
two-story log structure. In early 1847 a post office was opened. In
1854, the town's status as county seat was taken away by the more
centraly-located Jonesville.
The demise of Marion was slow and drawn-out. It's river traffic kept
it a viable for many years but just barely. The arrival of the railroad
in the early 1880s was the writing on the wall. By the turn of the
(20th) century, Marion was gone. The Texas Centennial Commission erected
a marker in 1936, but Marion had by that time, already joined the
long list of East
Texas ghost towns. |
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Site
of the Town of Marion
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2010 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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