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What would it be like to take a stroll around the Marion Square again, not as it is today, but as it was in the days when some of us were kids? Can you remember? Almost all of Marion’s stores were located on the Square. Parking there was ample for the numbers of shoppers who “drove to town.” The rest of us walked, from our homes on College, or Van Buren, or Mechanic Streets, just as we walked almost everywhere, school and church included. Let’s join Marion’s veteran Mayor Bob Butler as he takes us on a stroll around the Square. You might pretend that it’s Christmas time, and that you are a youngster with eyes all agog at the bright lights and window decorations.
Today, on the southeast corner of the Square there’s the big glass-fronted building where Wayland Sims operated “Distinctive Interiors” for so many years. But years ago, on the east side of South Market Street, O.P. Allen & Son had a home appliance business, later owned by John Goss. Next to them was a dress shop, I believe, and then the rest of the block was occupied by Cox Furniture and Hardware Store, operated by Gene Cox. It had been founded by his father and his uncle, Clarence Cox. Upstairs over the furniture store I recall there was a beauty shop run by a lady by the name of Neva, and she called it “Neva’s Beauty Shop.” Also upstairs, Peabody Coal Company had an office and several engineers operated out of that. Of course, at that time Peabody had several coal mining properties here in Williamson County. Sam Barbara’s Southside Tavern was next to the Goss Appliance store on South Market Street. And next to that was the Bearings Service Store.
All of the buildings on this entire block were destroyed by a fire on May 2, 1963. It started about 5:00 in the Goss appliance store and took the whole block. After the fire, Gene Cox acquired the vacant property, except for the Barbaro portion. Gene and his wife, Shirley, built the present building and operated a furniture store there for many years until it was passed to Wayland Sims.
Now, the portion of this block that was owned by Sam Barbaro was taken over by his sons, Frank and Pat. They also acquired the land where the Bearings Service Store had been, at the corner of South Market and East College. They built and ran a restaurant which they called “The Planters.” A few years later, Tony Castellano purchased “The Planters” from the Barbaros and moved his restaurant, “Tony’s Steakhouse” from the Hotel State Building to that spot and it has been known as Tony’s ever since.
Across South Market Street from “Cox’s” was the Dunston Building, named presumably after its builder. This housed the law offices of August Fowler and David Warford upstairs, and the B & B Shoe Store on the ground floor, which was later succeeded by Marie’s Jewelry. Next door, going to the west, was a lady’s dress shop owned and operated by Jean Spires for many years. It was later taken over by a husband and wife by the name of “Hart,” and it was called the “Hart Hollywood Shop.”
No story about the Square would be complete without pointing out the bright red and gilt painted popcorn wagon which stood in front of the Dunston Building on South Market Street. It was a Marion landmark. A man named Durham operated it for several decades. He had a white moustache and wore glasses, and stood inside the brightly lighted glass domain, selling the best popcorn anyone ever ate. Long before Oval Redenbacher, a stop for popcorn on the Square was a regular evening treat for Marion shoppers and theater-goers.
West of the Dunston Building was a cocktail lounge owned by Arthur Boatright who enjoyed a more sophisticated clientele than some of the other liquor establishments scattered around town. The Boatright building later became the site of “Boatright’s Electronics,” operated by Charles Boatright until his retirement a few years ago.
Next to Boatright’s, on the corner to the west, was the Bainbridge building. Lawrence Bainbridge owned and operated a jewelry store there for most of his life. On his passing, his son, Bill Bainbridge ran the store for many more years, and when he retired, his daughter, Charlotte Bainbridge Cash, continued the family tradition of fine jewelry and watch repair in Marion. Altogether, five generations of Bainbridge’s ran their businesses on the Square in Marion for more than 140 years. Upstairs above the jewelry store, Bob Hudgens, formerly a stand-out Marion athlete, practiced dentistry until he passed away from a massive heart attack.
All of these buildings, Dunston, Boatright and Bainbridge, are now gone, and their space on the Square is occupied by the new Marion Cultural and Civic Center. The Orpheum Theater stood in the southwest corner of the Square from its inception in the 1920’s until it was burned down by a vandal on March 11, 1997. From vaudeville, to silent movies, to “talkies,” to Technicolor and Cinemascope, the movie theater served as the entertainment center of the community. (The complete history of the Orpheum Theater and its offspring, the Civic Center, is a story which will be left for another telling.)
Going north from the Orpheum, you’ll find a two-story building which used to bear the name “Aikman” on its parapet. Owned by Libe Aikman, a partner in the Blankenship auto parts supply company, this building served as the home of “Parks Drug Store” for generations. Upstairs were the offices of several attorneys, including Norbert Garrison, Gordon Fowler, and Kenneth Hubler and Kenneth Powless, during their terms as State’s Attorney. A finance company has occupied the building tor many years now, since Irv Trevathan closed the drug store and moved to Florida.
Just to the north of the Aikman building was the F.W. Woolworth variety store. A central feature of Marion, as in any mid-American town, was the local “dime-store.” There is no end to the fond remembrances which those of us who grew up in and around Marion have of our trips to the five and ten. Before there was a McDonald’s, even before the Dairy Queen, there was the candy counter at Wool worth’s.
North of the Woolworth building, where the Little Egypt Arts Association is now located, Frank Powell ran his highly advertised “Powell’s – Best Clothes in Egypt” haberdashery store.
The Albrights took over the business from Powell, and continued in that location for decades. Upstairs, the Retail Clerk’s Union had their offices for quite a few years.
Crossing West Main Street would bring us to the Hotel State, currently called the Citadel Building. Originally built as a State Bank, the “State” name stuck when it was converted to a hotel. Looking in through the entrance, we would find a barber shop operated by Clay Barth and Charlie Baumler, and, across the hall, a jewelry store owned by Bob Moore. The top floors of the building held the hotel rooms, while the big vault left over from the bank’s days was used as a safety depository for guests of the hotel.
Next door to the Hotel State was “Speed’s” Greyhound Bus Station. Two brothers named Smothers had a soda fountain and sold bus tickets, but in the basement of this building was a sort of a dance hall. There was a nickelodeon, a juke box, and the teenagers would congregate after school, and on Friday and Saturday nights, to dance to the big-hand music of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Harry James. “Speed’s” later moved their bus station to the southeast corner of the Square, into the Gas Company building, and Dr. Morton M. May opened his medical offices where “Speed’s” had been.
Next to that was a shoe store operated by Sam Sanders, and later by his son, Bennie. After the deaths of the Sanders, Ivan Zwick became the owner of the business, now known as “Zwick’s Shoes.” Across the alley to the north, the County operated a building as offices for the Coroner, County Superintendent of Schools, and the Highway Department. It was later sold and converted into the Community Savings and Loan banking facility.
East across the alley from the County Building we have a couple of buildings. The one on the corner was one of the first television stores back in the early 50’s.
On a personal note, this building was the Republican headquarters back in 1956, and my grandfather, James H. Clarida, was an avid Republican. I was just a little fellow, and one Saturday morning we came to town and he took me into the Republican headquarters where there was a big poster of Alf Landon on the wall. He pointed to that picture and he says, “Bobby, take a good look at that man. He is going to be the next President of the United States.” Well, he was a little wrong, because Alf Landon ran against Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and he only carried one state and that was the State of Kansas.
Next to that was a two story building which was purchased by a man from Benton named Virgil Center. He had a store there he called “Virgil Center’s Dry Goods Store.” He operated that for a number of years and then sold it to Kenneth and Velma Sparks. They called it the “Bargain Center Store.” There were apartments upstairs and they lived up there. Both of those buildings were right next to the Bank of Marion. They were purchased by the Bank and demolished, and the Bank has expanded to the west to cover those.
The Bank of Marion now occupies the whole block, but there used to be a small niche back of the Bank, and a fellow of Greek descent named Pete had a lunch stand there, called Pete’s Diner. Next to him was “The Sally Shop,” a china and curio shop owned by a lady named Sally Disney. She operated that until a fire destroyed that building and the building next to it, where the American Brokerage was. The fire had to have been in the mid or late ’50’s. The Bank of Marion acquired both of those properties after the fire.
Across North Market Street from the bank is the Goodall Building. The street level was occupied by “The Economy Store” a variety-type store which was a little competition for the dime store. Above that, on the second floor, Ray Miller and Sandy Miller ran their abstract office for a many years. There were apartments up there, too. Down below “The Economy Store,” in the belowground level, was a barber shop and “The Gem Cafe,” a long-time favorite eating place in Marion. In fact, for many, many years in the “30’s and ’40’s, “The Gem” was the top of the line restaurant in town.
Next door to the Goodall Building was another dry goods company, known for many years as “Sherman’s Department Store.” Across North Franklin Street to the east was the City Hall. This building has got to be close to 100 years old. It was originally used as a bank, and then it became the City Hall. Behind the City Hall was the public area known as “The Hitch Rack,” where the farmers coming to town would put their wagons and teams of horses. You can imagine the mess that they must have had there with all those horses doing what they do naturally while standing there for a good part of a day. This area was asphalted black top in the late ’40’s and became a parking lot for motor vehicles.
Going south from the old City Hall was “J.V. Walker” Men’s Clothing Store. Next to that was “Cline-Vick Drug Store“, with its soda fountain and pharmacy. It was a pretty popular hangout for coffee drinkers. Upstairs above these buildings, Hosea Ferrell has his law office. He retired about the time J.C. Mitchell came out of law school, and J.C moved into his office. Across the hall was Dr. Fowler’s office, so that you had an interesting combination of a doctor and a lawyer on the same floor.
The building next to that was where “The Illinois Brokerage” was located. It was a general merchandise store. The prices were reasonable and the quality of the clothing and household items was pretty good. Upstairs were mostly apartments, but one office that I recall, the UMWA, the coal miner’s union, was there for many years in the 50’s.
Across East Main Street, where the City Hall is now, was the Goodall Hotel. In about 1940 or ’41, this whole block burned down, and this site stayed vacant tor several years, until the W.T. Grant Company built the present existing building. J. C. Penney next operated the store for a while, and then it stood vacant. After a couple of other businesses tried the location but failed, it was bought by the City and converted to a City Hail.
Adjoining that is the Hudspeth building where Mrs. Sarah Deaton, operated a dress shop called “The Stylart Shop.” This was a premiere ladies’ clothing store, not only for Marion, but for all of Southern Illinois, for many, many years.
Going south from the Deaton Building across the sloping street known as “Paradise Alley” is the Southern Illinois Gas Company building. The Smothers brothers moved Speed’s bus station over there after the gas company was sold or closed. After the Smothers, the building was acquired by Burl Butler. He had an appliance and propane gas business, and sold refrigerators, stoves and supplies that people with propane gas would need. When he moved to Cincinnati, a fellow by the name of Tony Fontanetta operated a tavern there for quite a few years. He later sold to a gentleman named Ken Chick who has operated the tavern there ever since.
So, I think you have been completely around the Square visiting Marion from a time, not so long ago.
(Marion Living Magazine, December 2005, by Mayor Robert Butler with Bernard A. Paul)