We've been trying to document how and when "Indians" became the nickname of the Marion High School athletic teams. Historian, Marvin Oxley says it happened in 1926. That's either a mistake or an amazing coincidence, because that was also the year our famous semi-pro baseball team adopted the name. The original "Marion Indians" formed right after WWI. They were known as the "Giants" at first and later the "Independents;" sometimes they were just the American Legion team, or simply The Marion baseball team. Whatever you called them, they were one of the best teams in the Midwest for nearly a decade. The players all came from Marion or nearby, though sometimes we had to recruit a pitcher for the season. The schedule included about 30 games/year, played mostly in Marion. The field was in Thomas Park until the Park Board banned Sunday play, and then they moved a little south to a new $7,000 field built for them by an association of local businessmen. Ten percent of the gate receipts went to paying off the debt thereafter. The team travelled around eastern Iowa, but not much further--budgets were tight. Attendance averaged an impressive 1,000-2,000 per game.

This was the era of the famous barn-storming teams and we hosted them all over the years. The 1926 game with the famous House of David bearded-team drew a record 6,000 to the Cedar Rapids Bunny field that the Indians used when needed. We split a double-header. Other famous visitors: the Boston Bloomers, a girl's team (they promised us a contest, but gave us comedy); the Nebraska Indians, the Anamosa Reformatory, Gilkerson's Union Giants, an African-American team (they whipped us bad), and; Cedar Rapids' own Colored Giants. Learn more about the original "Marion Indians"--Edward ("Bullet") Smith, Ray (Tinker) Harlan, Vern Brockman, Albert ("Zip") Arp, Bernard (Spitball) McAreavey, Homer E. ("Buck") Buchan, etc. in the next exhibit: 150 Years of Marion Sports, opening in one week, right after the parade. And don't miss our first presentation: How Iowa Met Baseball: The Myths, The History, The Players, Sunday, September 30, 2018 at 1:30 PM by historian John Liepa.

So back to the high school nickname. The 1926 MHS Quill has some Indian imagery but it's not limited to athletics, and there's nothing written about it. The Cedar Rapids newspapers started using the name in 1931, but that could just be a mistake by the editor. The Marion Sentinel didn't use the nickname until 1940--then suddenly it's everywhere. We draw the conclusion that we simply let our large neighbor to the west live in blissful ignorance for a decade, as is so often the case, rather than confront them with their error. 1940 seems the more likely start date. Given Marion's location near the creek and our long and proud association with the Meskwaki, I can't think of a better name, but I'm curious. What do you remember? ... See MoreSee Less

1 day ago  ·  

Ever wondered about the concrete strips in Hanna Park pictured here? Shuffleboard courts--one of our local sports "crazes," built c.a 1965. Shuffleboard is based on a gambling game invented in English pubs in the 15th century called "shove penny." Patrons slid pennies down tabletops with the object of stopping them as close to the edge as possible. Aristocrats built special tables to play on at home, and the tables moved into taverns and pool halls in the US at the beginning of the 20th century. Victorian-era cruise-ship recreation directors turned shuffleboard into an outdoor deck game, and a Daytona Beach resort-owner brought the game ashore in 1913. Courts sprang up at resorts and retirement villages all over the country. Young people caught the bug too and courts soon came to the "Y."

Marion's first outdoor courts were constructed in City Park in 1958. They attracted a daily group of fans, most retired. The Marion Shuffleboard Club was organized c.a. 1962, and counted 65 members three years later; dues were $2/year. Additional courts were constructed in Hanna Park, at the Community Center on 10th Ave. and inside our own building when it became the YMCA. Young people, however, were doing other things in the '60's, and the club didn't attract many. There were few voices left to object when the Depot was moved to the south end of City Park in 1988, covering the courts.

See the Heritage Center as it was when it was our YMCA. Try your hand at shuffleboard, and learn more about the game and other Marion sports crazes in our next exhibition: 150 Years of Marion Sports, opening September 29. ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago  ·  

On this 150th anniversary of the birth of the Cedar Rapids YMCA it's a little known fact that the YMCA movement began in Marion two years before CR's, in 1866. It wasn't for lack of trying that the organization stalled here, we simply didn't have the constituents the organizers were looking for--unemployed young men, new in town, at risk of falling under the spell of gambling, drink and worse. They went straight to Cedar Rapids. We had more churches than saloons, and if a youth strayed temporarily, well, he could be brought back in line with a stern warning, as in the attached news clipping from the Marion Register, March 16, 1870, describing events that happened on the Heritage Center's own front steps! More about YMCA history in the next exhibit, opening September 29. ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago  ·