Marion County is named for Francis Marion, who was a general in the American Revolutionary War and who lived from 1732 to 1795.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Dickinson County and Morris County
E – Morris County and Chase County
S – Butler County and Harvey County
W – Harvey County and McPherson County
Created: August 25, 1855 
County Seat:
Marion 1860 – present
County Courthouse – Marion
Location: 200 South 3rd Street / Water Street
Built: 1905 – 1907
Style: Richardsonian Romanesque
Architect: J C Holland and Company of Topeka and Charles W Squires
Contractor: J B Betts Jr. of Topeka
Description: The building faces west and is a two story buff colored local limestone and concrete structure. The rectangular shaped building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Marion. The building has a raised basement. The west entrance on the first story projects slightly and has a large Syrian arch with a flight of nine steps and a recessed entrance. The imposts of the arch are highly decorated with a rinceau molding, dentils and sinister grotesques. Above rises a high four story square stone clock tower with three narrow windows and above is a clock with four faces and steep roof. The north and south sections project from the main building and rise to dormers at the roof line. A wide string course of dressed stone runs around the building below the sills of the first and second story windows. The string course is recessed beneath each window. There are two courses of dressed stone below the entablature which consists of dentils and a cornice supported by consoles. The entablature breaks for the tower and the dormers over the auxiliary entrance. The roof is hipped. In the interior, the courtroom is located on the east side of the second story. The building houses the County District Court of the 8th Judicial District. On the east side is the one story County Jail.
Note: The contractor, J B Betts Jr. of Topeka, had the low bid of $41,874. He also constructed the courthouse in Leavenworth County and Riley County.
See: The architect, J C Holland and Company of Topeka, designed courthouses in Clay County, Geary County and Mitchell County; and in Nebraska in Jefferson County. Holland and Son designed courthouses in Ness County and Rice County. With Frank C Squires, he designed courthouses in Thomas County. With Charles W Squires, he designed the courthouse in Osborne County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Marion County Courthouse
See: The 8th Judicial District includes Dickinson County, Geary County and Morris County.
History: The county was created in 1866 and Marion was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a two story stone structure built in 1867. An addition was built in 1879 and the building was remodeled in 1881. The second and present courthouse was constructed in 1906 to 1907 at a cost of $45,000.
County Courthouse – Marion
County Jail – Marion
Photos taken 2010 and 2016