Marion is a delightful residential town, felt by its residents to have rare natural beauty and charm. The small town character, blended with the flavor and benefits of a seacoast community with lovely residential neighborhoods and modern conveniences, makes Marion an ideal town for year round living. Recreation opportunities are plentiful and Sippican Harbor hosts a variety of waterfront programs, including swimming at the town beaches, pleasure boating and fishing. There are golf courses and indoor and outdoor tennis courts, while Tabor Academy periodically opens up its hockey rink to the public. Marion's roots go back to 1679, when the town was first settled as a village known as Sippican, a part of Rochester. Rochester, Mattapoisett and Sippican, widely separate villages under the domain of Rochester, gradually developed different interests and economies. These factors led to independence for Sippican, which was renamed Marion in honor of the Revolutionary War hero, Francis Marion, in 1852. Today it has a stable year round population with a moderate summertime increase. Over the years, the heterogeneous population has worked hard to preserve Marion's rich historic traditions.