Being a riverside city, Marion has plenty of opportunities for you to pack up your fishing gear to cast a line or simply enjoy Oxbow Lakes and the Mississippi River chutes. Before or after visiting the lakes, head to the Sultana Historic Marker for a piece of Marion history. This marker commemorates those who were lost in the Sultana steamship explosion on the Mississippi River. Experience a taste of the civilizations early Europeans founded when they first crossed Arkansas Mississippi River Delta into Marion. When you step inside Hampson Museum State Park, you’ll see exhibits featuring artifacts and items including those that early settlers found. See the renowned collection from the Nodena site, a 15-acre palisaded village that once thrived on a meander bend of the Mississippi River in what is today Mississippi County. The museum also interprets the lifestyles of this farming-based civilization that lived in the area from A.D. 1400 to 1650.
The Parking Archeological State Park in nearby Parkin has sites that help you understand the history and prehistory of northeast Arkansas. The park preserves and interprets the Parkin site on the St. Francis River where a 17-acre Mississippi Period, American Indian village was located from A.D. 1000 to 1600. This city is also just a few miles from Memphis, TN so you can easily extend your trip across state borders if you have the time.
When you book with Choice Hotels in Marion, AR, you’ll have the amenities and the services you need from us to easily extend your trip and explore more of Arkansas or head into Tennessee. We look forward to hosting you, book online now!