Although Marion was incorporated in 1896 , the community predates that significantly . The site of Marion was part of Louisiana ( New Spain ) from 1764 to 1803 , when it became Louisiana ( New France ) . Some of the oldest land titles in the area are from Spanish land grants from a time prior to the Louisiana Purchase . After the Louisiana Purchase the area was part of the Arkansas Territory . During the 1830s the Trail of Tears , the forced removal of Native Americans from Georgia , Alabama , and Mississippi , passed through the area . Its location is close to where the Sultana Steamboat exploded and sunk . A memorial is placed on the city hall square to remember those lost in the accident Marion , AR was named after Marion Tolbert . In 1837 two commissioners had been appointed by the county court to select a site for a new county seat . Tolbert and his wife Temperance gave a deed to the commissioners " for the county of Crittenden for county purposes " on June 25 , 1837 . A town was laid out , named Marion in honor of Marion Tolbert and was made the county seat of Crittenden County , AR . Marion has been incorporated on multiple occasions , first in 1851 . The current incorporation dates from 1896
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Marion, Arkansas