History Lives in Marion, Alabama!

First called Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed in honor of Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox," hero of the American Revolution. History abounds in Marion: Sam Houston, later of Texas fame, was married here to a local girl in 1840.

The old City Hall (1832) is but one of many antebellum public buildings, churches and homes. At the 1844 meeting of the Alabama Baptist State Convention in Marion, the "Alabama Resolutions" were passed. This was one of the factors that led to the 1845 formation of the Southern Baptist Convention in Augusta, Georgia.

The first Confederate flag and the Confederate uniform were designed here by a teacher at the old Marion Female Seminary.

Lincoln Normal School

"How did this powerful little school with its far-reaching influence develop in an area in which racism flourished and hostility to Negro education prevailed?"

"Stories of the hunger for learning on the part of the Freedmen following the Civil War and the dedication of their northern teachers are legend. Without question, it was these two ingredients that built Lincoln Normal School and kept it alive and active for over a hundred years."
              -Ms. Idella Childs, Lincoln School Historian

More about the Lincoln Normal School of Marion, Alabama

The Past Surrounds You!

Marion Military Institute is down the road and is home to the Alabama Military Hall of Honor, which is housed in the Old City Hall.

Helen Keller, Julia Tutwiler and Tallulah Bankhead are also nearby - honored in the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame  in historic Bean Hall at Judson College.