Marion, the judicial seat of Marion county, is located a little to the east of the central part of the county, at the junction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroads, and at the confluence of the two branches of the Cottonwood river and the Luta. It is the central trading point of a rich agricultural and stock raising district. It has city waterworks, paved streets, a fire department, electric lights, 3 banks, 2 newspapers (the Marion Record and the Review), a creamery, flour mills, a good hotel, and all lines of mercantile establishments. It has a fine court-house. Marion is the home of ex-Gov. Hoch and other noted men. It is supplied with express and telegraph offices and has an international money order postoffice with seven rural routes. The population, according to the census of 1910, was 1,841.

Marion was the first town in the county to be platted. A store was opened in 1861 and a postoffice was established in 1862, but the town was not laid out until 1866. The town is beautifully located among streams, woods and springs. Limestone is abundant and most of the buildings are constructed of this material. A few are made of cement. The first newspaper was the Western News, published by A. W. Robinson for a company of prominent townsmen. Marion became a city of the third class in 1875. Good substantial buildings were erected in the late '70s and early '80s and they are still in use, although many new ones have been added. One of the best high schools in the state is maintained here, the curriculum of which includes a domestic science course. A good graded school was maintained as early as 1878. The town has a public library for which the legislature authorized a tax levy in 1885. It is under the auspices of the Marion Library association.