Marion's downtown was laid out in the 1840s and built up in waves between the 1880s and the 1920s, when the railroad brought in cotton mills and timber money. The result is a tight three-block stretch of late Victorian and early-20th-century brick storefronts, with cornices, transoms, and recessed entries mostly intact.
Anchor buildings include the McDowell County Courthouse (1922) and a handful of restored shopfronts now housing antiques, coffee, and the McDowell County Arts Council. A 21-acre area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.