[7] Marshall and Harrison County were important political and production areas of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

Following World War II, activists in the city's substantial African-American population worked to create social change through the Civil Rights Movement, with considerable support from the historically black colleges and universities in the area.

Although freedmen comprised the majority of voters in the county and supported the Republican Party, establishing a bi-racial government, in the post-Reconstruction era, the White Citizens Party, led by former Confederate General Walter P. Lane and his brother George, took control of the city and county governments by fraud and intimidation at elections.

T&P President Jay Gould accepted the business incentive, locating the T&P's workshops and general offices for Texas in Marshall.

[27] Under the leadership of John L. Lancaster, the Texas and Pacific Railway enjoyed its height of success during the first half of the 20th century.

Marshall's ceramics industry expanded to the point that the city was called by boosters the "Pottery Capital of the World".

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, children of both races were forced into accepting the law of racial segregation in the state.

Marshall resident George Dawson became a writer late in life when he learned to read and write at age 98.

[28] Suspects were often brought to Marshall for the lynchings, or taken from the county jail before trial and hanged in the courthouse square for maximum public effect of terrorizing the black population.

In the early and mid-20th century, Marshall's traditionally black colleges, Wiley and Bishop, were thriving intellectual and cultural centers.

The writer Melvin B. Tolson, who was part of the Harlem Renaissance in New York City, taught at Wiley College.

Countee had a successful career as a teacher and artist in the New York City area, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Heman Sweatt, a Wiley graduate, tried to enroll in the University of Texas at Austin Law School, but was denied entry because of his race.

He sued and the United States Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of postgraduate studies in public universities in Texas in its ruling in Sweatt v. Painter (1950).

James Farmer, another Wiley graduate, became an organizer of the Freedom Rides and a founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which was active throughout the South.

In April 1975, nearly a decade after passage of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, local businessman Sam Birmingham became the first African American to be elected to the city commission.

Construction of the Interstate Highway System after World War II and expansion of trucking, plus the increase in airline traffic, also led to railway declines.

[9] The Fire Ant Festival gained national attention through being featured on television in programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show.

[39] Restaurants, boutiques, and loft apartments were developed in downtown, adding to the variety of its daily life and the number of pedestrians on the streets.

Hall, Jr. Federal Courthouse has been the venue for several cases challenging state practices under provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

For instance, the Democratic Party challenged the 2003 redistricting by the state legislature, arguing that it diluted minority rights.

[41] The trend continued through 2011 in the Eastern District of Texas, which includes Marshall, with the number of patent lawsuits more than doubling from 2010.

[42] Marshall was profiled on This American Life, as its juries' support of plaintiffs in patent suits has generated controversy.

[43] On January 18, 2010, Dr. John Tennison, a San Antonio physician and musicologist, publicized his research that found that boogie-woogie music was first developed in the Marshall area in the early 1870s.

The eastern half of the city is bisected along an east–west axis by US 80, which east of its intersection with U.S. 59 is called Victory Drive and west of US 59 is named Grand Avenue.

Immediately to the north of the square is the Ginocchio National Historic District, where the city's Amtrak station is located.

[50] In the spring, severe weather is not uncommon, and tornadoes have hit the city in the past, including an F2 that struck the south side of town in 2000, wiping out a Domino's Pizza on US Highway 59.

[64] Marshall's economy is diversified and includes services such as insurance claims processing at Health Care Service Corporation, also known as BlueCross BlueShield of Texas, education at several institutes of higher learning, manufacturing such as wood kitchen cabinets at Republic Industries and pottery at several manufacturers.

[70] At the federal level, the two current United States senators from Texas are Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.

The local cable company, Fidelity Communications (formerly Cobridge Communications), provides public-access television channels that show local football games produced by KMHT radio, and meetings of the city and county commissions (both live and replayed), as well as streaming audio from KMHT.