It shouldn’t be a surprise that Marion historically used to have severe flooding issues when you look at the way the land lays and the elevations involved. Crab Orchard Creek which brushes the city to the south side of Marion gathers water from the Pittsburg area and as far east as Crab Orchard. Inside city limits, a tributary called West End Creek snakes from the Shawnee Village area near West Boulevard Street and makes its way to the intersection of Court and Main where it passes under the intersection and heads generally SSE till it finds Crab Orchard Creek. Meanwhile, another tributary called Mule Creek begins gathering water just east of Rosehill Cemetery and winds its way through East Marion in the general direction of the Washington School passing under E. Main and south through Ashley Park till it meets West End Creek near the sewer plant and both dump into Crab Orchard Creek.

It goes without saying that historically, any areas surrounding the two creeks in town or near where they meet Crab Orchard Creek were the main victims of flooding in the past. Typically, you could expect that any substantial rain over a short period would close several intersections in the city. Predictably hard hit were the Boyton and S. Market Street intersections, Gent’s Addition, the intersection of Court and Main Streets, Ashley Park and the area surrounding the creek north of E. Main Street.

The case could be made that construction of Crab Orchard Lake in the late 1930’s which amounted to impounding Crab Orchard Creek only magnified the problem since the creek no longer could flow easily. Whereas, there is little doubt that the lake probably didn’t help matters, historical photos reveal that the same areas were flooding in Marion during the 1920’s under the right conditions.

Flooding in Marion was recorded in May 1961, March 1977, June 1980, February 1982, December 1982, May 1983, May 1990, November 1991 and 1993, and May 1996 which usually involved home and business owners requiring rescue or evacuation.

Near constant study was given to flood control starting in 1975 and the Corp of Engineers finally performed a study in 1977 only to determine that it wasn’t cost effective. The Corp then conducted another survey in 1983. This same year, the city council passed an ordinance to prevent construction in the 100 year flood plain and conducted surveys to determine the actual damage amount of previous flooding. The Corp of Engineers once again denied any help for flood control.

In 1988, under the Thompson administration, the USDA said there was a solution to flooding and a Crab Orchard Watershed Committee was formed immediately. The Soil Conservation Service had already created a computer model of the watershed which gave a rough estimate of cost and determined economic feasibility for flood control. Finally, in July 1990, documents were signed on a proposed $4 million dollar project.

In 1992, the project started moving forward and the city began buying out properties which were positioned in flood plain areas. Numerous bridges were rebuilt, creeks rechanneled and large channels were formed out of existing creek beds to hold and move water from the city. In May and June of 1997, the Court and Main Street intersection was closed for 3-4 weeks while work on West End Creek which passes under the intersection was beefed up and rebuilt. The total project was finally completed in June 1998 with a reported price tag of $12 million dollars, the vast majority of which came from grants.

Early pioneer families used to use Crab Orchard Creek as a source of drinking water, bathed, swam and fished in it and wash their clothes in it. It’s likely they saw the creek as a blessing in their lives, but then again, they couldn’t have foreseen the urban sprawl that Marion has experienced in the last 50 years either. Let’s just be thankful that we don’t have to sleep with one eye open when it rains anymore.

(Sources: Marion Daily Republican, Southern Illinoisan, Williamson County Historical Society, Sam Lattuca, 8/21/2018)