Harrison County is a county on the eastern side of U.S. state of Texas bordering with the state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 68,839. The county seat is Marshall. The county was created in 1839 and organized in 1842. It is named for Jonas Harrison, a lawyer and Texas revolutionary.

Developed for cotton plantations by planters from the South, this county had the highest number of enslaved African Americans in Texas before the Civil War. They comprised 59% of the population. From 1870 to 1930, Blacks made up 60% of the county's population. In the post-Reconstruction era, whites used lynchings to assert their dominance, in addition to the state's disenfranchisement of Blacks. From 1940 to 1970, in the second wave of the Great Migration, many Blacks moved to the West Coast to escape Jim Crow and for work in the expanding defense industry. More whites have moved in since the late 20th century as the county's economy has developed beyond the rural, and now comprise the majority. Harrison County comprises the Marshall micropolitan statistical area, which is also included in the Longview-Marshall combined statistical area. It is located in the Ark-La-Tex region.

History

250px|left|thumb|[[Old Harrison County Courthouse (Texas)|Old Harrison County Courthouse in Marshall lit at Christmas, 2005]]

Early history

Settlement by immigrants from the United States (US) began during the 1830s in the territory of present-day Harrison County. In 1835, the Mexican authorities granted a dozen land grants to U.S. immigrants. After the Texas Revolution, the Congress of the Texas Republic established Harrison County in 1839, formed from Shelby County. Harrison County was named for Texas revolutionary Jonas Harrison. The county was organized in 1842. The county's area was reduced in 1846, as territory was taken to establish Panola and Upshur counties. Marshall was founded in 1841 and was designated as the county seat in 1842. In addition, during the post-Reconstruction era, white terrorist violence was directed at Blacks to assert white supremacy. According to records of the Equal Justice Initiative, Harrison County had the third-highest number of lynchings of any county in Texas, from 1877 to 1950.

In the 1870s, the county's non-agricultural sector increased when the Texas and Pacific Railway located its headquarters and shops in Marshall. It stimulated other industries and manufacturing in the county, and also aided the transportation to market of the important cotton crop. Most were committed in the early 20th century, particularly in the 1910s when the county suffered economic hard times. Whites "did not lynch instead of ineffective courts, but instead demonstrated to the black majority that legal protection and rights were inaccessible to blacks". Blacks accused of violence against law enforcement or who were from outside the county were particularly at risk, but the terrorist lynchings put all Blacks on notice that whites could take action against them essentially at will.

The Texas legislature disenfranchised most Blacks in 1901 by requiring poll taxes and authorizing white primaries (after various iterations, the latter were overturned by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1944). This disenfranchisement extended into the late 1960s, until after national civil rights legislation was passed to enforce these citizens' constitutional civil rights.

In 1928, oil was discovered in the county. Its exploitation and processing made a significant contribution to the economy. The northern and eastern parts of the county are drained to the Red River in Louisiana by Little Cypress Creek, Cypress Bayou, and Caddo Lake. The other third of the county is drained by the Sabine River, which forms a part of its southern boundary. These waterways were critical to early transportation in the county.

Adjacent counties

  • Marion County (north)
  • Caddo Parish, Louisiana (east)
  • Panola County (south)
  • Rusk County (southwest)
  • Gregg County (west)
  • Upshur County (northwest)

Major highways

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National protected area

  • Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Communities

Cities

  • Hallsville
  • Longview (mostly in Gregg County)
  • Marshall (county seat and largest municipality)
  • Scottsville
  • Uncertain
  • Waskom

Unincorporated communities

  • Elysian Fields
  • Gill
  • Harleton
  • Jonesville
  • Karnack
  • Latex
  • Nesbitt
  • Woodlawn

Demographics