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Welcome to the Main Street Marion (MSM) shop page where you can peruse through Main Street merchandise and gift items, and downtown businesses specials and promotions.
The Main Street Marion Lighted Historical Mini-Building Collection makes a great holiday gift!  Give someone you care about a piece of Grant County History for $25/each or $60/set of 3.
Seven Gables
Birthplace of James Dean
James Byron Dean was born at the ÔÇØSeven GablesÔÇØ apartment house on the corner of 4th and McClure Streets in Marion Indiana ten miles north of Fairmount, on February 8, 1931.┬á He was the only child of Winton Dean, a dental technician, and Mildred Wilson Dean.┬á The family moved to Fairmount shortly after the birth of James.
James Dean started school at the Fairmount West Ward and in 1945 went to Fairmount High School.┬á He was an average student, but excelled in sports, art, drama and band.┬á He placed first in the Indiana State Contest of the National Forensic League with his presentation of ÔÇ£The MadmanÔÇØ by Dickens.
His most famous movies include ÔÇ£Rebel Without a Cause,ÔÇØ ÔÇ£East of Eden,ÔÇØ and ÔÇ£Giant.ÔÇØ┬á All three films were made within 16 months.
On September 30, 1955 at 5:45 p.m. at the intersections of Route 66 and 41 near Cholame, a 1950 Ford turned in front of DeanÔÇÖs brand new 550 Porsche Spyder.┬á Dean was unable to avoid the collision and the world lost a rising star and gained a timeless legend.┬á He was only 24 years old at the time of his death.
The Historic
Grant County Courthouse
The first Grant County courthouse was a two-story, twelve foot by twenty foot frame building, erected building, erected in 1833.  The first floor was the court room, and the county offices filled the second floor.  It cost $684.00.
The second courthouse, built in 1838, was made of bricks fired in the courthouse yard.  The clay was used from a large mound believed to be Indian burial grounds at the building site.  The mound, one of many in the area, was six feet high and sixty feet in diameter.  It held charcoal, bits of pottery, and bones.  George W. Webster, Sr. was the contractor and Dr. Ezra Styles Trask made the bricks.  Cost of that building was $5,000.00.
On January 8, 1880, Grant County commissioners George White, Nicholas D. Holman, and Benjamin F. Stevens voted to build a larger, more convenient courthouse to replace the second one which had long been outgrown.  Later, for the sum of $6,700.00, they hired architect E. E. Myers of Detroit, Michigan, to draw plans and oversee construction.
The Historic Indiana Theatre
The Indiana Theatre at 5th and Adams was built in 1901 for legitimate theatre and joined several other theatres in the city of Marion, including The Crystal Theatre in the IOOF Building, and the Bradford on North Washington Street.┬á In 1919, The Indiana Theatre was rebuilt for movies and was reopened joining the Luna Lite and the Royal Grand as theatres featuring movies in Marion.┬á The second, re-built Indiana Theatre featured a glittering marquee and a Moroccan-styled interior.┬á For many years it was under the guidance of Billy Conners, who was known as a ÔÇ£showman without peer.ÔÇØ ┬áRebel Without a Cause starring James Dean was one of many films to premiere at the Indiana Theatre. ┬áWhen the theatre closed in 1978, Norma Carmichael was the theatre manager.
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Main Street Marion would like to thank everyone for their continued support, sponsorship, and purchasing merchandise during our events goes a long way of keep the organization going.
Thank you!
