Welcome to Marion ...
The city of Marion is located in McDowell County<1> and is the County Seat for McDowell County.
The location of Marion has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Marion, you might consider that their post office opened in 1844.
When the people of Marion refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Marionite<3>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Marion has a population of 7,916 people<4> (see below for details).
Marion is 1,400 feet [427 m] above sea level.<5>.
Time Zone: Marion lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
Marion lies within the (828) area code.
Websites for Marion ...
Official Website: www.marionnc.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Marion had an population of 7,916 people. This is an increase of 1% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 60.15% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Marion had a population of 7,838 people (which is 17.42% of the total population of McDowell County). This makes Marion the county's most populous community.
The population of Marion represents 0.08% of the total population of North Carolina (which has 9,535,483 people), making it the state's 99th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 7,838 people, the population of Marion increased 58.57% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 4,943 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Marion.
Communities Also Named Marion ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 51 communities that are also named Marion - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado (2), Connecticut, Florida, Georgia (4), Idaho, Illinois (2), Indiana (3), Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (4), Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio (2), Oregon, Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee (2), Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Marion.
Communities near Marion ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Marion.
- Morganton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morganton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morganton
- Morganton is located in Burke County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 16,625 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morganton <6>
- Black Mountain
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Mountain
- Black Mountain is located in Buncombe County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,256 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Black Mountain <6>
- Spruce Pine
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spruce Pine
- Spruce Pine is located in Mitchell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,126 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spruce Pine <6>
- Glen Alpine
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Alpine have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Alpine
- Glen Alpine is located in Burke County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,487 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glen Alpine <6>
- Montreat
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Montreat have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montreat
- Montreat is located in Buncombe County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 939 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Montreat <6>
- Old Fort
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Fort have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Fort
- Old Fort is located in McDowell County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 924 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Fort <6>
- Glenwood
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south) - Nebo
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nebo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebo
- Nebo is located in McDowell County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nebo <6>
- Greenlee
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenlee
- Greenlee is located in McDowell County
- Sugar Hill
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Hill
- Sugar Hill is located in McDowell County
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Marion. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Marion.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Marion. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Marion.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Marion. Our list includes 9 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Marion.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Marion ...
Looking for more information about Marion? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Marion, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Marion.
Adding Marion to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Marion in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Marion was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Marion post office opened in 1844.
We also found Marion in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Marion.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Marion: www.marionnc.org/
The official website for State of North Carolina: https://www.nc.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of North Carolina's counties, including McDowell, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Marion refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Marion may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <4> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Marion. |
| <5> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Marion - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |