History of Marshall, Texas

The History of Marshall, Texas follows the State from its founding as an administrative center of the Republic of Texas, through its rise to be one of the largest cities in the early State of Texas, to its emergence as a major Confederate city, to its establishment as a major railroad hub of the United States in the late 19th century, through its national influence on the American Civil Rights Movement, through its steady economic decline in the late 20th century, and to the reemergence of growth in the 1990s and early 21st century.

The reason for moving the county seat from sites on the Sabine River like Pulaski was that they had poor water, were prone to disease, and flooding.

Whetstone is alleged to have convinced the commissioners that the water was good by pulling a jug of whiskey out from a hollow in an oak tree in what is now downtown Marshall.

Whetstone's friend Isaac Van Zandt, laid out the city and named it in honor of John Marshall.

Sam Houston refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, Marshall's Edward Clark was sworn in as governor.

The city would remain influential in the Confederacy throughout the war, as a power center west of the Mississippi, which hosted Confederate governors during the Marshall Conferences in 1862, 1863, and 1865.

Despite this the African-American community would continue to progress with the establishment of Bishop College in 1881 and the certification of Wiley by the Freedman's Aid Society in 1882.

T&P President Jay Gould accepted and located the T&P's workshops and general offices for Texas in Marshall.

Rocker located the business in East Texas because of its abundant water and white clay deposits.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, children of both races were raised to accept the status quo of segregation.

African American Marshall resident George Dawson later wrote about his childhood experiences with segregation in his book Life Is So Good.

[2] 1914-04-29: Charles Fisher, a young African-American resident of Marshall, was accused of hugging and kissing the daughter of a white farmer.

Fred Lewis, as the secretary of the Harrison County NAACP, challenged the oldest White Citizens Party in Texas and the Jim Crow laws it enforced, ultimately abolishing Jim Crow in the county with the Perry v. Cyphers verdict.

During the first half of the 20th century, the Texas & Pacific Railroad experienced its height under the leadership of John L. Lancaster.

Marshall's railroad industry subsequently declined with the dieselization of most trains, the proliferation of air travel, and the construction of the Interstate highway system after World War II.

The Texas oil bust of the 1980s devastated the local economy and the city's population declined by about a thousand between 1980 and 1990.