125 years ago
july 5, 1889
Marion had no regular celebration yesterday, but the city was made lively by the building of the M.B. & C.S. (Marion Branch and Chingawasa Springs) railroad the full length of Third street. Work was begun about daylight, and continued till ten o’clock at night, during which time the grading, tie and rail laying was all done. A large force of men were engaged, and a larger force of citizens watched the proceedings. A good deal of “kicking” was done by property owners along the street, but the work went right on.
The curbing, guttering and macadamizing of Main street, though expensive, will, we predict, prove one of the best investments Marion ever made. It will make the street one of the prettiest in the State. It will stimulate a permanent sidewalk boom. Outside of its Main street, Marion is probably the best sidewalked town of its size in the State. But its Main street sidewalks, as a rule, are cheap and unsightly. Property owners have not cared to put down handsome and costly sidewalks, because they had no assurance that the grade was permanent. But now the matter is forever settled, and we expect to see some sidewalks on Main street worthy of the town. Already residents of Walnut street in the valley, and of Lincoln Avenue on the hill, are talking of curbing and parking and grading those beautiful streets.