Marion, Ohio

The Marion Popcorn Festival is held every year in downtown Marion, Ohio, United States. The festival was established in 1981 and is held annually during the first weekend after Labor Day in September. Marion was once an epicenter of popcorn manufacturing, made by such companies as Wyandot Snacks and Orville Redenbacher's (currently made by ConAgra). Wyandot Snacks was once the largest exporter of popcorn in the United States, and Cracker Jack was manufactured in Marion for almost a decade. In 1982, the second year of the festival, Wyandot Snacks presented a 40 foot long bag of popcorn, which they submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for consideration as the largest bag of popcorn in the world.Festival organizers schedule nationally known acts like Ernest Borgnine, Gloria Estefan, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Lorrie Morgan, The Neville Brothers, and native son Huey Lewis and the News to perform at the festival. It is said to be the biggest popcorn festival in the world, attracting crowds of over 250,000.In 2004, the Travel Channel came to the festival and recorded parts of the festival as part of Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo.In 2016 Kelli Pickler and Skid Row performed. In 2017 The Georgia Satellites and the Gin Blossoms performed. In 2019 Frankie Ballard and Hinder performed.The 2020 Festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Old U.S. Post Office in Marion, Ohio was built in 1910. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It is currently used as the Heritage Hall museum by the Marion County Historical Society. The museum is dedicated to the preservation of Marion County Ohio history. Heritage Hall is also home of the Wyandot Popcorn Museum, the "only museum in the world dedicated to popcorn and its associated memorabilia."

The Marion County Historical Society is located in Marion, Ohio, United States. In addition to operating Heritage Hall, a comprehensive museum dedicated to the preservation of Marion County Ohio history, the Society also operates the Rinker-Howser Resource Center, Linn School House and Seiter Cabin sites. Permanent displays at the museum include: Harding Collection on President Warren G. Harding and Florence Kling Harding. Marilyn Meseke Collection – Miss America, 1938. Prince Imperial, one of the first Percheron horses imported to North America and purchased from Napoleon III by Marion County horse breeder Jacob Houser. Mary Ellen Withrow Collection – Treasurer of the United States of America 1994-2000 and the only person to hold the office who represented all three levels of government treasurer offices – local, state and national. Linn School, a fully restored one-room schoolhouse, was the gift of brothers Oliver Hamilton and Merle Hamilton, who undertook the restoration of the building back to 1905; it was completed in 2004. Linn School has been recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the outstanding examples of preservation for 2004.Heritage Hall is also the home of the Wyandot Popcorn Museum, the "only museum in the world dedicated to popcorn and its associated memorabilia."

The Marion County Courthouse is the seat of government for Marion County, Ohio, United States. Located at the heart of the city of Marion, it is a sister of the courthouses that stand in Washington Court House in Fayette County, Ohio, and Charlotte, Eaton County, Michigan. All three were designed by architect David W. Gibbs. The Fayette County Courthouse was built during 1882–1885, as was the one in Eaton County Michigan, which uses brick and stone for its exterior rather than stone for the Ohio built structures. The Marion County Courthouse was built during 1884–1886. The blueprints are a modification from even older designs for the Henry and Union County Courthouses.Ten portholes are decorated with sandstone heads of various figures. Four of them are meant to depict various races—a white woman, an African man, an Asian man, and an American Indian man. Other heads include two settler girls and a settler woman, plus a head similar to depictions of William Shakespeare.In the 1970s, county officials announced a plan to perform extensive changes the building's interior, which had previously experienced few modifications since construction. The Marion County Historical Society protested the plans and aroused substantial public displeasure; preparations were made for a referendum to repeal the plans, and enough local residents signed a ballot petition that it would have qualified for a vote, but no vote was held because Ohio law does not permit referenda of the sort. Numerous original wood carvings and paintings were destroyed, ceilings were dropped, and aluminum doors installed. County officials sought to mollify local ire by retaining the building's exterior, including restoring the statue of Justice atop the tower.

Marion Township is one of the fifteen townships of Marion County, Ohio, United States. The 2010 census found 44,749 people in the township, 36,837 of whom lived in the city of Marion.

The Warren G. Harding Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library of Warren G. Harding, the 29th president of the United States (1921–1923). It was scheduled to open on September 4, 2020; followed by a formal dedication ceremony later on September 18, 2020. However, the opening was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The library was officially opened to the public May 12, 2021.It is located in Marion, Ohio, adjacent to the Harding Home, the historic house museum of the former president. The 2020 scheduled completion date was set to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Warren G. Harding's win in the 1920 presidential election.The $7.5 million project was announced on April 12, 2016, by Harding 2020, a collaboration between the Harding Home, Marion Technical College, and the Ohio History Connection. Both of Ohio's U.S. Senators, Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, are honorary co-chairs of the project.Plans included the construction of the 15,000-square-foot center and museum. The center has interactive exhibits of the former president, as well as meeting space. The center houses artifacts and memorabilia that were once owned by the former president and his wife Florence Harding. In addition, the center houses Harding's presidential papers, which were previously stored at the Ohio History Connection's headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, since 1963.About $1.3 million will also be spent to restore the Harding Home and its grounds to reflect how they appeared in 1920.Sherry Hall, manager of the Harding Home, told The Plain Dealer that the center will help inform visitors about Harding's presidency beyond the single paragraph found in most textbooks. "Quite frankly, this president deserves for his story to be told," stated Hall.

The Harding Home is a historic house museum at 380 Mount Vernon Avenue in Marion, Ohio. It was the residence of Warren G. Harding, twenty-ninth president of the United States. Harding and his future wife, Florence, designed the Queen Anne Style house in 1890, a year before their marriage. They were married there and lived there for 30 years before his election to the presidency. Like James A. Garfield, an earlier U.S. president from Ohio, Harding conducted his election campaign mainly from the house's expansive front porch. During the 3 month front porch campaign, over 600,000 people traveled to the Harding Home to listen to Warren speak. George Christian (Warren's next door neighbor and Press Secretary) allowed his home to be used as Republican Headquarters for the campaign. In 1920, Harding built a small bungalow-style structure behind the Christian House so newspaper reporters had workspace to type their stories. The house is surrounded by an expansive, elaborately detailed porch. Entry to the house is through a reception hall, with a parlor on the left. A dining room and Harding's office are also in the first floor. There are four bedrooms on the second floor and a bathroom. Built-in closets are an unusual feature for the time.Mrs. Harding bequeathed the house to the Harding Memorial Association. The Ohio Historical Society now operates the home as a historic house museum and a memorial. The restored house contains almost all original furnishings owned by President Harding and his wife. The adjacent press house features exhibits about the lives of President and Mrs. Harding. The collection at the Harding Home is over 5,000 original artifacts that belonged to Warren and Florence Harding.On April 12, 2016, "Harding 2020", a collaboration between Ohio History Connection, the Harding Home, and Marion Technical College, detailed plans to spend $7.3 million at the site to establish the Warren G. Harding Presidential Center. Plans include restoring the home (inside and out) and its grounds to its 1920 appearance. The culmination of the work was to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Harding's election to the presidency.

The Huber Building is a historic department store building in Marion, Ohio, United States. It was designed by Richards, McCarty & Bulford and constructed in 1903 by famed industrialist Edward Huber. The building contract was for $250,000. A 1909 image was taken from atop the building's elevator tower. Uhler Phillips Company, also known as Uhler's, operated a department store in the building for many years. It was owned by Carrie Fulton Phillips and her husband James Phillips, who left the company following a scandal that linked his wife with Warren G. Harding.The Huber Building is located at the northwest corner of Center Street and Prospect Street. It includes 54,000 square feet of space, two elevators, a rooftop garden and was home to the C.W. McLain Company department store, which was purchased and became Uhler-Phillips Company, which remained in business for many decades, surviving a scandal that involved its owners and Warren G. Harding.The building, at 148 West Center Street, is being redeveloped into lofts.

The Marion Public Library building, now part of the Trinity Baptist Church, is a historic Carnegie library in Marion, Ohio. Funded with a Carnegie Grant in 1905, the public library opened in 1907. The library was designed by Richards, McCarty & Bulford of Columbus, Ohio. The architectural firm also designed the Frank Huber Residence, located at 416 Church Street (diagonal from the current library building) and the Huber Building, a five-story department store in Marion. Andrew Carnegie donated $30,000 to build the library. It was designed in the Beaux Arts style. The historic building closed in 1978 and is now part of the Trinity Baptist Church complex.

The Marion Palace Theatre is a movie palace constructed in 1928 in Marion, Ohio, United States for the Young Amusement Company. The original cost of the project was $500,000 ($7.5 million in 2021 dollars). It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its significance to the atmospheric theatre architectural style popular in the United States during the 1920s. The theatre opened on August 30, 1928, becoming the company's tenth theatre. A movie palace, it was one of the last to be built in the atmospheric theatre style in the United States. In addition to motion pictures and newsreels, the theatre also booked vaudeville and legitimate theatre, although vaudeville had declined in popularity by the time the theatre opened.It is located at the corner of West Center Street and Campbell Street, on two former residential lots. The site was initially owned by the Campbell family, early Marion settlers. The lot slopes to the west, causing the stage to be below grade level on the east and at grade level on the west. The east lot was vacant at the time of construction, while the west lot had a residential house, which was razed. Over time, additional land was secured and added to the complex. In 1975, the theatre was sold to the Palace Cultural Arts Association, a nonprofit organization, and renovated. The Palace remains open today as a movie and performing arts center, and is one of 16 atmospheric theatres designed by John Eberson that remain in operation as theatres in the United States.

The Marion Cemetery Receiving Vault is a funerary structure in the main cemetery of Marion, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the 1870s, this receiving vault originally fulfilled the normal purposes of such structures, but it gained prominence as the semipermanent resting place of Marion's most prominent citizen, U.S. President Warren G. Harding.

The Harding Tomb is the burial location of the 29th President of the United States, Warren G. Harding and First Lady Florence Kling Harding. It is located in Marion, Ohio. Also known as the Harding Memorial, it was the last of the elaborate presidential tombs.