Francis Marion - Landmarks

Landmarks

The Francis Marion National Forest near Charleston, South Carolina, is named after Marion, as is the historic Francis Marion Hotel in downtown Charleston. Across the street from the hotel, the Marion Square contains a statue of Francis Marion upon a pedestal. Numerous other locations across the country are named for Marion. The city of Marion, Iowa, is named after Francis, where an annual Swamp Fox Festival and parade are held each summer. Marion County, South Carolina and its county seat, the City of Marion, are named for Marion. The city features a statue of General Marion in the town square, and has a museum which includes many artifacts related to Francis Marion; the Marion High School mascot is the Swamp Fox. Francis Marion University is located nearby in Florence County, South Carolina.

In Washington, D.C., Marion Park is one the four "major" or large parks in the Capitol Hill Parks constellation. The park is bounded by 4th & 6th Streets and at the intersection of E Street and South Carolina Avenue in southeast Washington, D.C.

The municipalities of Marion in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia are named for Francis Marion. Marion County, Indiana (of which the city of Indianapolis is a part), is named for the general, as are Marion Counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, and more than 30 townships in 9 states. The junior military college Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama has an organization called Swamp Fox which is attributed to Francis Marion. Marion County, Oregon, is named for Francis Marion and the marionberry is named after the county. The South Carolina Air National Guard, located about 12 miles east of Columbia in Eastover, South Carolina, boasts the title "Home of the Swamp Fox" and has an image of the face of a fox painted on the body of their F-16 Fighter Jets.

In 1850, the painter William Tylee Ranny (1813–1857) produced Marion Crossing the Pee Dee, based on events following the battle of Camden in the American Revolution. The picture, displayed at the Amon Carter Museum, depicts Marion sitting on a horse and talking with a subordinate on the back row of a small boat, Marion being second from the left.

In 2006 the United States House of Representatives approved a monument to Francis Marion, to be built in Washington, D.C. sometime in 2007–08. The bill died in the Senate and was reintroduced in January 2007. The Brigadier General Francis Marion Memorial Act of 2007 passed the House of Representatives in March 2007, and the Senate in April 2008. The bill was packaged into the omnibus Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which passed both houses and was enacted in May 2008. Also in 2008, Francis Marion Military Academy was established in marion county Florida. http://www.marionmilitaryacademy.org/