Timeline
OUR CITY’S TIMELINE
Interested in what’s happened and who is happening in Marceline? Here’s a developing timeline of our city.
1888
- March 6, 1888: City of Marceline is incorporated
- The City of Marceline was incorporated on March 6, 1888.
March 6 1888 - Claud C. Dail is the first child born in Marceline. He was the second son of Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Dail. He was born March 6, 1888, the same day Marceline was incorporated
- Ruth Cannon is the first girl born in Marceline. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Cannon. She was born July 22, 1888.
- The first newspaper of the city, The Marceline Journal, began publication around June, 1888, and it was closely followed by the appearance of The Marceline Mirror.
1889
- First Opera House opens on the corner of Kansas Avenue and California Avenue
- First coal mine (Marceline Mine #1, owned by Marceline Coal Company/Marceline Coal & Mining Company ) opens southeast of town
1896
- First Phone Exchange: The first telephone exchange in Marceline was built about 1896
1902
- New coal vein hit (20 May 1902 at 3:00 pm)
1905
- Coal Mine #2 opens north of Marceline
1907
- First Nickelodeon opens
1908
- Second Nickelodeon opens (2 competing at the same time)
1909
- Jeweler Albert Zurcher (pronounced like WORKER) moves to Marceline and soon becomes head timekeeper for the Marceline region of the railroads
1912
- Two Nickelodeons close and a new one opens
1913
- April 10, 1913: the Marceline Santa Fe Depot was dedicated
1915
- First Christian Church is build by integrating the original church into the new design (a National Register of Historic Places property) opens
1920
- February 9, 1920: Theodore Roosevelt American Legion Post #264 was chartered
- November 1, 1920: Marceline Carnegie Library opened with 1,701 books ready for use. At the end of the first year, there were 990 borrowers and 3,024 volumes in stock
1923
- Current Marceline Masonic Lodge (a National Register of Historic Places property) opens
- First hospital, the B.B. Putnam Hospital opens on Howell Avenue. It is later taken over and run by the nuns of St. Francis
1924
- Joseph Hemmings, the co-founder and superintendent of the Marceline Coal and Mining Co. opens his new Marceline Mercantile & Supply Co. at 125 E. California Avenue. It would later be run by the (Frank) Gucker (“Goo-ker”) Coal Company. It is a National Register of Historic Places property
- 1929
June 7, 1929: Marceline News puts out its first issue
1930
- The Dickinson Theatre opens across the street from the Cater Opera House on Kansas Avenue
1933
- Lincoln School is opened and runs until the end of Segregation in 1954 (a National Register of Historic Places property)
1936
- The Dickinson Theatre becomes the Uptown Theatre (a National Register of Historic Places property) after a dispute between owner A.B. Cantwell and Leaser Dickinson Theaters
- The Chief Theatre, run by Dickinson, opens
1942
- May 1, 1942: Marceline’s first hospital, the B. B. Putman Memorial Hospital, closes on May 1, 1942. The nuns of St. Francis take over the day-to-day operations, expanding the hospital to include more beds
1955
- December 20, 1955: Engine #2546 was placed in Ripley Square and dedicated to Marceline
1956
- July 4 1956: The Walt Disney Municipal Park was dedicated on July 4, 1956
- July 4 1956: Walt Disney’s movie “The Great Locomotive Chase” premiered at the Uptown Theatre
1960
- October 16 1960: Walt Disney Elementary School was dedicated on October 16, 1960
1992
- July 4 1992: the Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Ripley Square
2001
- September 21 2001: Walsworth Community Center dedicated
- The Walsworth Community Center is dedicated on September 21, 2001
2004
- August 23 2004: The Walt Disney Post Office is dedicated on August 23, 2004
2023
- Uptown Theatre placed on National Register of Historic Places, thanks to our efforts as the Marceline Historical Society (501c3, trademarked)
2025
Thanks to our efforts as the Marceline Historical Society (501c3, trademarked), four more historic properties are placed on the National Register of Historic Places: Masonic Lodge, First Christian Church, Lincoln School, and Marceline Mercantile/Gucker Coal Company Office.