{"id":2701,"date":"2019-07-26T22:12:43","date_gmt":"2019-07-26T20:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spookymarion.com\/?p=2701"},"modified":"2019-07-30T21:18:34","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T19:18:34","slug":"marions-west-end-the-spookiest-part-of-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spookymarion.com\/?p=2701","title":{"rendered":"Marion’s West End: The Spookiest Part of Town?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I think about all of the articles I\u2019ve published on this website since 2008, it occurred to me that the majority of them involve Marion\u2019s West End. Why, I wonder, is that so? Why has this part of town \u2013 roughly the area north of Bellefontaine Avenue and west of Main Street \u2013 been the location of so many Spooky Marion stories?<\/p>\n

This question interests me not only because of my fascination with Marion\u2019s history but also because of my personal ties to the area.<\/p>\n

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Heading down Silver Street on my way to deliver newspapers in the mid 80s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I grew on the corner of Silver Street and Rose Avenue, and my memories of the old neighborhood are still vivid: Collecting scrap and taking it to Malo\u2019s for extra money. Watching striking Alloy Cast Steel workers chasing scabs down Rose Avenue. Sitting out on the front porch on warm summer nights and listening to the drunks carry on in the parking lot of the Hub Bar. Delivering Newslife<\/em> on bitterly cold Sunday mornings up and down Chestnut, Owens and Leader Streets. And the trains! Good Lord, everybody in the West End knows about the trains. The blare of their whistles and the sight of cars backing up on Silver Street as the trains rumbled by were a daily occurrence.<\/p>\n

This isn’t a ghost story or a true crime account or an urban legend. Rather, this is just a bit of reflection, shaped by what I know about Marion\u2019s West End history as well as my own experiences growing up there.<\/p>\n

The Rise of the West End<\/strong><\/p>\n

The West End is an older part of town and for years was Marion\u2019s industrial heart. But to understand the industrial development in this part of town, we have to go further back to the establishment of Marion\u2019s railroads.<\/p>\n

Marion\u2019s first rail traffic began in the early 1850s and the Union Station Depot opened in 1902.\u00b9 By 1907 Marion had, according to the History of Marion County<\/em>, \u201cthe best railroad facilities of any city of its size in the State.\u201d\u00b2 David Luyster, a member of the Marion Union Station Association, estimates that, even today, 70 to 75 trains a day pass through Marion.<\/p>\n

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An Erie Railroad steam locomotive passing through Marion, Ohio, in 1941. This photograph by Robert A. Hadley is courtesy of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art<\/a><\/span>. The Alloy Cast Steel building is visible in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By the beginning of the 20th century, Marion\u2019s well-developed rail system had led to the establishment of manufacturing.\u00a0Raw materials came in via the railroads, and finished goods shipped out via the railroads.<\/p>\n

An overview of some of these manufacturers:<\/p>\n