Marion County was formed in 1807, six years before Mississippi became the 20th state. The county was named in memory of General Francis Marion, of South Carolina and Revolutionary War fame.The county has a land surface of 1,095 square miles. It is a sparsely setteled district in the south central part of the State. The counties of Lawrence, Pike, and parts of Covington, Lincon, and Lamar were originally embraced within its extensive limits. It was carved from the old counties of Wayne, Franklin, and Amit.

A quarter of a century after its establishment, the county had only 3,494 inhabitants, and in 1900 it had 13,501.

Columbia, the county seat, remained for many years the only town in the county. Prior to the formation of Lamar County, the towns of Richburg, Purvis, and Piotona; located on the Northeastern Railroad, were a part of Marion County.
Columbia, County Seat of Marion County, became The State of Mississippi's fourth municipality, on June 25, 1819.
Two of the prominent early settlers of the region were Dougal McLaughlin, a native of South Carolina and a descendent of an old Highland Scotch family, and Rev. John Ford , also a native of South Carolina. Both men

were delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1817