The following is a letter to the editor of the Marion Monitor newspaper in December 1874 written by a man from Corinth, Illinois about his visit to Marion in 1855.
Mr. Editor,
In 1855, 19 years ago, I first saw the town of Marion and many have been the changes since then. Burkhart’s corner then had the best building on the public square, occupied by Goodall & Pulley. Hundley & Campbell were then doing a large business in dry goods and trading in stock. The old courthouse then stood in the middle of the square, a brick building of antique structure, then occupied by John H. White, County Clerk; George W. Goddard, Circuit Clerk and Joseph Huffstutler, Sheriff. The walls and ceiling of the old house were then nicely frescoed with smoke and cobwebs. The old brick hotel (the Western Exchange), then occupied by O.H. Wiley, on the north side of the square, had partly fallen down and was undergoing repairs.
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