"M" is for Marion County [489 square miles; population 35,466]. Named for Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, the county is located in northeastern South Carolina. It is shaped like a knobby sweet potato, with its skinny southern end only fifteen miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Horry County lies to the east, Williamsburg and Georgetown Counties to the west. The Great Pee Dee and the Little Pee Dee Rivers flow the length of the county and merge at its southernmost tip. The land is generally level and the soil is well suited for agriculture. Food crops, indigo, livestock raising [primarily hogs], timber and turpentine in the 18th century; cotton in the19th century and bright leaf tobacco in the 20th century defined the county’s economy. The town of Marion is the county seat of Marion County.