Marion County History Historical Society

The County of Marion was first established by the Kansas Territorial Legislature in 1855.  It was eliminated when the boundaries of Kansas Territorial Counties were corrected in 1857, but it re-appeared when eight new counties were authorized in 1860.  Marion County’s boundaries changed from time to time over the years, with its western boundary being today’s Kansas-Colorado border in 1865-66. Today’s boundaries of Marion County were finalized in 1872. 
 

Marion County was officially organized in 1865.  The Chase County Court, July Term 1865, ordered a special election to be held on August 7, 1865 to locate the county seat and elect county and township officers. The Court divided the County into three Townships: Marion, Cedar, and Santa Fe (actually “Santifee” in the Minutes). The NE-1/4, Section 6, Township 20 South, Range 4 East was selected as the location of the County Seat (i.e., Marion Centre, later renamed Marion).  The first County Commission meeting convened August 10, 1865. 

Today’s Marion County consists of 24 Townships and encompasses 944.29 square miles. The county is named for Francis Marion (c. 1732 – February 27, 1795) a military officer who served in the American Revolution and was a persistent adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina.  Marion used irregular methods of warfare and is considered to be one of the fathers of guerilla warfare.  His tactics earned him the nick-name “The Swamp Fox.”