County of tower: Williamson County
Location of tower: Public Square, Main St. & Market St., Marion
"Soaring above the Marion square, a clock tower stands guard -- a sentinel of time and overseer of history.
"For more than 100 years, courthouses occupied the center of Marion's Tower Square. Five courthouses have been built in Williamson County, and all but the present one was on the square.
"The first courthouse, built at a cost of $108, opened in 1840. Constructed by Gabriel Sandes, it shared the square with a half dozen other buildings, all log cabins. A modern courthouse, which cost $1,300,000, was dedicated in 1971 at West Jefferson and North Monroe streets, just north of the square.
"Marion Cultural and Civic Center, perhaps the jewel of Tower Square, opened in 2004 after the Orpheum Playhouse burned in 1997. The vaudeville/movie house had occupied a dominant part of the square since 1922.
"Today, the civic center shares the south side of the square with The Salvation Army's Marion Service Center and family store. And, on the east side is Marion City Hall. Years ago, the building which now occupies city hall was a dime store. I remember walking to the dime store from my grandmother Pulley's motel, just east of the square, in the years before it burned in the winter of 1972.
"I remember buying candy and toys from the dime store and an orange brooch in the shape of a turtle from a jewelry store on the opposite side of Main Street. I still have that brooch. I bought it for my mother's birthday in 1971 or 1972.
"At the base of the clock tower, a statue of longtime Mayor Bob Butler seems to keep watch over the city. And, in the open space where courthouses once stood, monuments pay tribute to fallen soldiers.
"Every year for the last 10 years, the Veterans on Parade has paused for a memorial service on Tower Square to remember those who perished in defense of their country." ~ The Southern Illinoisan, by MARY THOMAS LAYTON, October 3, 2014