Editing Marion, Arkansas (section)

=== American Civil War and after ===
During the [[American Civil War]] the [[Sultana (steamboat)|steamboat ''Sultana'']] was destroyed in an explosion on April 27, 1865, as it was transporting released Union POWs near [[Mound City, Arkansas|Mound City]], just east of Marion. It is estimated that 1,500 soldiers and crew were killed, the largest loss of life in a maritime accident in US history. This tragedy is commemorated by a historic marker placed by the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]].

By 1873, construction started on a two-story brick county courthouse in Marion. This building burned in 1908 and was later replaced with the current brick courthouse. The initial contract for the courthouse and jail was $60k, and due to unknown circumstances construction took many years to finish.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NRHP nomination for Crittenden County Courthouse |url=http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/%21userfiles/CT0018.nr.pdf |website=Arkansas Perservation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111145531/http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/%21userfiles/CT0018.nr.pdf |archive-date=November 11, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=":0" /> In the 1880s, the town received its first proper railway connection when the [[St. Louis–San Francisco Railway]] built a line through the town to make a connection between [[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]] and Memphis.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alison |first=Charles Y. |title=St. Louis–San Francisco Railway |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/st-louis-san-francisco-railway-5102/ |access-date=January 18, 2024 |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1954, a local Black man, Isadore Banks, was [[lynching in the United States|murdered by a mob]] in the town. He was chained to a tree, covered with gasoline and burned. Nobody was ever charged in the killing.<ref name="Isadore Banks eofA">{{cite web |title=Isadore Banks (Murder of) |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=6425 |access-date=January 10, 2019}}</ref>