Information About Marion, NY

Marion is a quaint town located centrally in Wayne County.  The town is about 30 square miles with about 5,000 people.

History

Originally the rural town of Marion was called Winchester when it was created in 1825.  The following year the town was renamed after a Brigadier General in the Revolutionary War, Francis Marion.

In 1975 the first settler, Henry Lovell, came to Marion.  In 1839, the Marion Academy was created.  Education was important to the early settlers.  The school eventually died out, but several Marion residents had a young man from Oberlin College to help teach people and prepare them for college.  This eventually led to the Marion Collegiate Institute.  It served students of Marion and the surrounding area from 1855 until 1940 when the Board of Education of the Union Free School took over.