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Marion is a city in Williamson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 16,035 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Williamson County. Marion was named for Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" in the Revolutionary War. The County's namesake, Hugh Williamson served as a physician in the same campaign. It is also the home to the first supermax prison in the U.S., United States Penitentiary (USP) Marion. Marion's slogan is "Marion: Hub of the Universe." The most recognizable feature of Marion is the clock tower in the center of the city square. The tallest building in Marion is the soon-to-be remodeled First Baptist Church of Marion, reaching a height of approximately 105 feet.
Commerce and industry
Marion, Illinois is located at the intersection of Interstate 57 and State Route 13 in southern Illinois. With Interstate 64 just 30 minutes to the North and Interstate 24 only minutes to the South, Marion offers access to several metropolitan areas such as St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Memphis, and Nashville without the associated "big city" costs.
From quaint antique stores to a regional shopping mall, Marion has hundreds of stores filled wall-to-wall with every kind of merchandise anyone could ever want.
Marion's growth is phenomenal. It has become the largest small city in Illinois. With the crossroads of Rt.13 and Interstate 57 in the heart of downtown, Marion is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing cities in Illinois. One of the largest Wal-Mart Supercenter Stores in the U.S. is scheduled to open in September 2006. When finished, it will measure a staggering 200,000 sq. ft in area, with 36 separate departments and over 500 employees.
In April 2007, a new minor-league baseball stadium is set to open in the quickly developing business district known as "The Hill" (where the new Supercenter, Asian Bistro and 17th Street BBQ are also located). No team has been affiliated with the stadium yet, but Southern Illinois Baseball Group chairman John Simmons is considering two options at this time, and is certain a team will be purchased or organized from scratch.
Popular local restaurants in Marion include Walt's, Bennie's, The Asian Bistro, 17th Street Bar and Grill (The only 3-time World Champion in BBQ), La Fiesta, and Tequlias, among many others. Marion also has plenty of nice chain restaraunts, like Red Lobster, O' Charlie's, and Applebee's.
Former popular restaurants no longer in business included Tony's Steakhouse, and Pulley's. Pulley's served President George W. Bush BBQ.
Prison
On October 22, 1983, two prison guards were killed in unrelated incidents in the maximum security prison in Marion. The prison was, at the time, the holding place for the Federal Bureau of Prisons' most dangerous prisoners. Despite this, two inmates were able independently to kill their accompanying guards. Relatively lax security procedures allowed a prisoner, while walking down a hall, to turn to the side and approach a particular cell. An accomplice would subsequently unlock his handcuffs with a stolen key and provide him with a knife.
As a result of the incident, the prison in Marion went into "permanent lockdown," and was completely transformed into a "control unit" prison. This penal construction and operation theory, since named supermax (a portmanteau of super and maximum) calls for the keeping of inmates in solitary confinement between twenty-two and twenty-three hours each day, and does not allow congregate dining, exercising, or religious services. These practices are used as administrative measures to keep prisoners under control.
Following the killings, Norman Carlson, then director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, successfully persuaded the federal government that a more secure type of prison needed to be designed reasoning that there was a need to isolate uncontrollable prisoners from both guards and each other for the sake of security and personal safety. Marion became a model for the subsequent construction of other facilities around the country built specifically as a control unit prison. So far, the only other supermax-only prison in the federal system is the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility, in Florence, Colorado.
Geography
Marion is located at (37.730363, -88.930237).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.0 km² (13.5 mi²). 33.2 km² (12.8 mi²) of it is land and 1.8 km² (0.7 mi²) of it (5.18%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,035 people, 6,902 households, and 4,341 families residing in the city. The population density was 482.6/km² (1,250.2/mi²). There were 7,555 housing units at an average density of 227.4/km² (589.0/mi²). The Population of Marion Continues to grow rapidly. A special census done earlier this year shows the city population raising by 500 new citizens.
There were 6,902 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.1% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,364, and the median income for a family was $39,275. Males had a median income of $31,520 versus $22,609 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,073. About 11.2% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.
External links
Cities in Illinois | Micropolitan areas of Illinois | Williamson County, Illinois
"Marion, Illinois"