Marshall was officially organized by William B. Archer in 1835, eight years after the National Road entered the community.

[6] In 1863, Marshall was the scene of conflict in which local Copperheads, who opposed the Civil War, sought to protect soldiers who had deserted from the Union Army.

A local judge, Charles H. Constable, freed the deserters and ordered the arrest of two Union sergeants on kidnapping charges.

This resulted in the dispatch of 250 soldiers under the command of Col. Henry B. Carrington by special train from Indianapolis, who surrounded the courthouse, freed the sergeants and arrested judge Charles H. Constable.

The most famous writer associated with the Colony was the novelist James Jones, who built a home in Marshall and lived there ca.

[citation needed] Marshall is the site of the oldest continually operated hotel in Illinois, the Archer House.

The Marshall post office contains an oil on canvas mural, Harvest, painted in 1938 by Miriam McKinnie.