COOL — AND POSITIVE — THINGS ABOUT MARION, OHIO

A week doesn’t go by where I don’t hear someone complain about Marion, Ohio. Yes, we have negative things…but then so does every city.

I’ve lived in Marion since May 1976. That’s almost 40 years. I fell in love here, married here, became a mom here, and raised a boy into a fine young man here.

So I thought I’d tell you some COOL things about Marion. Let’s start with some famous people who hail from our city (and there’s even more than this list!).

• President Harding — he gave his campaign speeches from his front porch in 1920. Pretty cool that he had the press come to him! Forward thinking there!

29th President of the United States

• The 1938 Miss America, Marilyn Meseke

Miss America 1938

• Mary Ellen Withrow — she was the U.S. Treasurer from 1994 – 2001. She is the only person to hold the Treasurer position at all government levels: local, state, and federal.

40th Treasurer of the United States

• Remember John Dean from Watergate? Yep — from Marion!

THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON EYES ONLY

• Larry Barnett — for the sports fans, he was a Major League Baseball umpire from 1969 – 1999.

“Baseball steal” by Rdikeman at the Commons

• And my favorite “famous” person is Kristi Wink Cooke — she was Miss Ohio in 1991. She also performed on Broadway in Will Rogers Follies and had appearances on One Life to Live and Another World. I personally know Kristi because she’s very active in our local theater and has had many performances with the hubby. (Couldn’t locate a photo of Miss Ohio 1991!)

We have some awesome historical museums and sites, and I’ll name just a few here:

• The Harding Home — cool museum! Where those famous porch speeches were held

Warren G. Harding Home, Marion OH

• The Harding Memorial is where President and Florence Harding are buried. It’s the largest presidential memorial outside Washington, DC.

Harding Tomb, Marion, Ohio

• Marion Palace Theatre — a restored Eberson theater that was originally built in 1928. It also has a Wurlitzer organ. The Palace was scheduled for demolition when some local businessmen got together to save it. In 1975, the theater was sold to the Palace Cultural Arts Association, a nonprofit organization, and renovated.

Marion Palace Theatre, Marion, Ohio

Until the 1970s Marion was a national leader in manufacturing:

• Marion is the nation’s leader in corn and popcorn produced foods.
• Whirlpool’s plant in Marion is the largest clothes dryer manufacturer in the world — yes, the world.
• Power shovels built at the former Marion Power Shovel were used to build the Panama Canal.
• Also built at the Marion Power Shovel were the crawler-transporters that moved the rockets used by NASA’s Project Apollo to the launch pad.

Wyandot Popcorn Museum (Old Post Office)

Whirlpool Corporation

Marion Power Shovel

A couple other interesting facts about Marion:

• We have a 3-day popcorn festival every September (refer to the fact about corn and popcorn produced foods…)

Marion Popcorn Festival

• There is a huge mysterious revolving granite ball in the Marion Cemetery. For more than 100 years it’s been slowly rotating on a pedestal. It even made the “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” in 1929.

The Mysterious Merchant Ball

But what are the BEST things about Marion, Ohio? I fell in love here, married the best hubby here and became a mom to the best son here!

My lovely little family

So if you live in Marion, or used to, what are some of the cool things you’d like to add?

Or if you live someplace else, are there any interesting things about your town/city that a lot of people might not know about?