Marion Square is greenspace in downtown

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, spanning six and one half acres.Charleston County Tax Map Geographical Information System
TMS Number 4601604005 The square was established as a parade ground for the state

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

under construction on the north side of the square. It is best known as the former Citadel Green because

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...

occupied the arsenal from 1843 until 1922, when the Citadel moved to the city's west side. Marion Square was named in honor of

Francis Marion Brigadier-General Francis Marion ( 1732 – February 27, 1795), also known as the Swamp Fox, was an American military officer, planter and politician who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. During the Amer ...

. The square is bounded by Calhoun (south), Meeting (east), Tobacco (a pedestrian only

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

that lies between the square and properties to the north) and King (west) Streets. The land is what remains from a parcel conveyed to the

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

of South Carolina in 1758. When Joseph Wragg died, his son, John Wragg, received 79 acres along King Street. In 1758, John Wragg sold 8.75 acres to the provincial government for 1,230 pounds for use in the construction of a defensive wall to keep the city safe from Indians and, later, the British. By 1783, there was no longer a need for the defense works, and the 8.75 acres were transferred to the newly created city government. In 1789, the state reacquired a portion of the land along the northern edge to build a tobacco inspection complex. When John Wragg's estate was being administered, an error was discovered; it seems that when the 8.75 acres was acquired by the city, an extra 1.40 acres was also taken over to compensate for the portion of the 8.75 acres which had become used as roads. A petition was submitted to the South Carolina Senate by John Wragg's heirs, and the matter was taken up by a Senate committee in December 1800. The state opted to pay the heirs for the 1.40 acres that had been mistakenly taken beyond the original 8.75 acres; returning the land was impractical since the tobacco complex had already been built by the time the error was discovered. The square is jointly owned by the

Washington Light Infantry The Washington Light Infantry is a military and social organization located in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1807, it is one of the oldest of these militia groups still active in the United States. Following the American Revolutionary ...

and the Sumter Guards.The Joint Board of Officers of the Washington Light Infantry and the Sumter Guards, 287 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC Their objections prevented city officials from paving the park as a parking lot in the 1940s and in 1956 and also prevented its development as a shopping center. It is operated as a public park under a lease by the city of Charleston. Under the terms of the lease, the center of the square is kept open as a parade ground. Marion Square is situated directly across from the historic Citadel Square Baptist Church and the South Carolina State Arsenal (Old Citadel). The space is a favorite place for

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

students because of its proximity to campus. In 2003, city council member Wendell Gaillard proposed banning sun-bathing in Marion Square ("This 'Girls-Gone-Wild'-type attitude has caught ahold all across the country. We don't want it to get to that point . . .," Gaillard said), but his proposal was met with little support; Gaillard claimed that exposing churchgoers and families to sunbathing was wrong and that sun-bathing students might attract stalkers to the area. Marion Square 1892

The square is the home to many monuments, including a

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

memorial, an obelisk dedicated to

Wade Hampton Wade Hampton may refer to the following people: People *Wade Hampton I (1752–1835), American soldier in Revolutionary War and War of 1812 and U.S. congressman *Wade Hampton II (1791–1858), American plantation owner and soldier in War of 1812 *W ...

, and a statue of

John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He ...

in cast bronze atop a giant pillar. The Calhoun monument is the second such structure in the square. The first one was not liked by the people of Charleston, and the organizers of the installation had problems with the delivery of the pieces. Eventually, in 1894, a new artist, J. Massey Rhind, was commissioned to create a new figure. A new memorial was raised in 1896, and the old one was sold off for scrap value. Controversy again arose in 2017 over Calhoun's views on slavery. In June 2020, the statue of Calhoun was removed by City Council. In January 2021, a time capsule was found while completing the removal of the base of the statue. The time capsule dated to 1858 and was relocated under the monument during its construction later. In 1944, a bandstand in the Art Moderne style was built according to plans by Augustus Constantine. The structure had originally been planned to house restroom facilities for white servicemen, but a bandstand component was added to the plans. The bandstand became a spot for political rallies, but the restrooms were a constant problem because of vandals. The bandstand was ultimately razed during a refurbishing of the park that began in August 2000 and concluded in 2001. The bandstand had been in very poor shape since at least 1961 when city council approved its removal. During the summer the square is also the home to a farmers market on Saturdays and various festivals such as the Food and Wine Festival and the Spoleto Arts Festival. Since 1913 a tree has been placed in Marion Square for the Christmas season.

References

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External links

Historic Charleston's Religious and Community Buildings, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
{{Charleston, South Carolina Parks in Charleston, South Carolina