Marion Receives Electricity in 1900

In 1900 Marion became electrified with the avaiability of electricity to light homes and businesses in the evenings.

Use of this new electricity was at first limited to after dark hours when light bulbs attached to a cord hanging from the ceiling provided dim light for nighttime activities.

In Feb. 1902 a severe ice storm, shown below, disabled much of the city's power when weighted lines snapped from the additional weight of collapsing limbs and trees.

A group of Marion business men of the day standing between The Marion Bank, on the left, (now The People's Bank), and Yandall & Gugenheim Dry Goods Store on the right, (now Frazer & Massey Law Offices.)

All these stores would be burnt during the March 1905 fire that destroyed Marion's business district. 

They were beautiful buildings of their time.

Moore & Orme Drug House - 1894

From the special edition of The Crittenden Press in 1894.  One of Marion's main street businesses.

The drug house of Moore & Orme is a leading establishment of the city and the proprietors have shown from its incipiency that no pains were to be spared in placing it in the front rank.

The store-room is beautifully finished in oak and the prescription case is one of the most complete in appointment of any we have ever seen.

The business is as solid as oak, but the growth of the business has been exactly the opposite of that slow growth timer, Mr. Moore is largely engaged in other business, as he was a practicing physician for fifteen years, is an ex-president of the Marion bank and is now a candidate for railroad commissioner.

J. H. Orme is a registered pharmacist, of five years experience, a graduate of the Vanderbilt University, and has been in business here for the past three years, and to him is left the entire charge of the establishment.

The druggists profession, while among the most attractive, is at the same time one of the most responsible callings; a druggist must, of necessity, possess much knowledge of the service be painstaking, careful and reliable.

The confidence reposed in the skill and knowledge of a druggist, in constantly entrusting our lives in his hand, speaks louder than an encomiums.  Among these in Marion none enjoys more implicitly the full confidence of the people, and justly, too, than Mr. Orme, whose business premises are the next door north of the Marion Bank.

The stock of drugs is large and complete, so one ever calls for anything in the world of medicine that is not to be found and of a good quality, kept fresh and pure.

                                                              ***

This house of business burnt in the great fire of 1905, but Mr. Orme rebuilt his drug store in the same location.  The location was the former home of the Marion Cafe and now the home of Botanical Flowers and Gifts.

Winters Past Remembered Again

Winter Weather of the Past 

 This was the first Blog post that I did back in Feb. 2008.  It seems fitting to use it again.  Although it brings back memories, they aren't very pleasant ones.

I get most of my information on our local history from the archives of The Crittenden Press that are on mirco-film at our local Library, so off to the Library I went. From my own memory and those of my husband and son, I knew that January and February of 1977-1978 and 1979 were some of the most snowy and cold days that we remembered in our lifetime.

Living on a farm in rural northwest Crittenden County was rough for man as well as the animals on the farm and in the woods. Families would work together to help keep the graveled country roads at least passable, if only with one lane. During the winter of 1978, we received the help of neighbor, Gleaford Easley, who actually used his bulldozer to plow a lane through our road so that a vechicle could make it to the highway. The piles of snow on the road were higher than a pick-up truck.

January 1977 started out with a 10 inch snow, which was one of the deepest snows we had seen in several years. A cold northern wind kept temperatures at zero for several days and even dropped to 10-15 below zero. The Ohio River even froze during this icy grip of winter.

January 1978 we were hit again with a 15-18 inches of snow. Mail could not be delivered to the rural routes. Postmaster Ed Runyan said it was the first time since 1963, when he became postmaster that the routes weren't delivered. Once again families worked together and if one could make it to Marion, he would pick up everyone's mail that lived close by and would take it to them. We were lucky and had one of the few 4-wheel drive trucks on our roads. Schools and factories, Moore's Business Forms and Potter and Brumfield plant, were closed until streets could be cleared enough for traffic. Then in February, with the ice and snow still around, a high wind added to the problems and disrupted electric service for a while.

January 1979, another wintery blast hit us with temperatures as low as zero, ensuring the snow and ice would remain for a while. A week later, another snow fell on our area, causing school to be closed for all but 4 days in January and most of the month of February. Schools ran until June of that year.

These are just a few of the facts of the winters of 1977, 1978 and 1979. Needless to say, we all dreaded thinking of what Mother Nature had in store for us at the start of the next new year.

Looking Forward in 1925

Here is an interesting article that appeared in The Crittenden Press in August 1925.

Looking Forward

• The turnpike from Marion to Salem is in splendid condition.
• The new coal mine in the suburb of East Marion is yielding a fine article; it is good coking coal.
• In the old part of the city some side walks are badly needed.  The records show that the trustees ordered these sidewalks built in the summer of 1894.
• The Street Railway Co. is now running cars to Crittenden Springs every half hour.  The four big hotels at that popular summer suburban resort are crowded.  The gas from the sulphur spring is now utilized in lighting up the place.
• The service now on the Princeton, Marion and Ohio River railroad is splendid.  Four passenger trains each way daily.  The company is also doing a heavy freight business.  Ton after ton of our splendid spar is being shipped every week to the eastern cities.
• The old brick graded school house, which was sold to the colored school district yesterday, was built in 1894, and from an old copy of the Press found under a corner stone we learn that its building was a great event in the town then; and the fight to vote $8,000 to build it was long and lively.  Really our forefathesr of 1894 must have been pretty close-fisted fellows.
• The coking ovens at the Barnaby coal mines (located at Bells Mines) will be ready for operation by the first of the month.  For years the coal at these mines has been recognized as the best in Southern Kentucky.  The mine gets its name from an old Englishman, who sometimes in the 1880's was attracted by the superior grade of coal, and began working it.  It then had a wide local reputation, being sought after by the blacksmiths for miles.  "Kit and Jack's coal" as it was called, was hauled on road wagons to Marion, when this place was a village some forty years ago.

Fohs Gave Marion More Than A Building

 

The story of Fohs Hall on North Walker Street in Marion is well-documented in the annals of Crittenden County history.

However, what is not commonly known is that the construction of Fohs Hall not only gave Marion its most notable landmark, but indirectly resulted in the installation of a public water system in 1926.

According to the late local historian, Thomas Tucker, Julius Fohs offered to build the two-story building for the City of Marion and foot the entire bill as a gift to his hometown.

However, Fohs, than a world-famous geologist, had one condition attached to his generous offer.  He insisted that if he were to erect the structure on the same lot where his family once lived, Marion must install a city water system to allow citizens access to city-supplied running water.

The reasoning behind Fohs' request was one of protection for the facility and other Marion structures.  Fohs' father had lost his Marion retail business to fire two different times in the past.

After many years of having delayed the inevitable, the city council agreed to his request of creating a public water works project for the city.  

 The trenches were finally dug, the pipes installed and water turned on all as a result of a generous man's concern for the well-being of his hometown.

Fohs Hall as it stands today.  Marion's most historic building.