Marion

Formed August 30, 1855 (23^rd county)

Marion County (11,819), Marion (1,926), Hillsboro (2,736)

The stone 1906 Richardsonian Romanesque courthouse has a dominating working clock tower.  It is at Water between 3^rd and 4^th streets.  Kansas State Highway 256 is one blocks north of the location.  J. C. Holland and Charles W. Squires are the building architects.  Marion County was founded on August 30, 1855 as the 23^rd county with Marion as the only county seat.  The county and county seat are named for Revolutionary War General Francis Marion. 

Marion County government consists of a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Eight District Court Judges serve Marion, Dickinson, Geary, and Morris counties (judicial.) The county is in central Kansas.  Wichita, Kansas is south and Salina, Kansas is northwest of the county.  The county center is 8.9 miles West of Marion nearer Hillsboro.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Dickinson, Morris, Chase, Butler, Harvey, McPherson, and Saline counties.  The county is the number 9 with the northeast corner missing.  The City of Marion is in the eastern third of the county.  The largest city is in the western third of the county.  Marion is the county seat and Hillsboro is the largest city.  Marion is 16.3% of the county population while Hillsboro is 23.2% of the county population.

The area of the county is 943 square miles.  It is 20 out of 105 in the state.  It ranks 37 out of 105 in population in the state.  It has a density of 12.5 persons per square mile making it 48 out of 105 in the state.  Marion County has 63.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 50 crosses the county east to west from Chase County to Harvey County.  United States Highway 56 enters from the north, Dickinson County, and exits to the west, McPherson County.  United States Highway 77 is joined with United States Highway 56 from Dickinson County, splits and continues south into Butler County.