History of Marshall Texas

The native inhabitants of the area were members of the Caddo Indian nation. This nation inhabited the area for thousands of years before any other settlers began arriving in the area. Spanish soldiers passed through the area of Marshall in 1679 and a permanent settlement of the area by Anglos and African Americans occured in the late 1820’s.

Texas declared its independence in 1836. The city was formally incorporated in 1841 by the Republic of Texas and became the county seat of Harrison County in 1842. Marshall was named in honor of Chief Justice John Marshall. The city quickly became a major city in the state, because of its position as a gateway to Texas on several major stage coach lines. The city’s growing importance was strengthened when Marshall was linked by a telegraph line to New Orleans, becoming the first city in Texas to have a telegraph service. By 1850, Marshall was the fourth largest city in Texas. Marshall played a major role in the Civil War providing munitions and manufactured goods for the Confederacy. Marshall became the Capitol of the Confederacy west of the Mississippi River after the fall of Vicksburg. Marshall also served as the site of the Confederate Government in exile for the State of Missouri from 1863 to 1865. In 1871, Jay Gould established the Texas and Pacific railroad in the area and located its shops in Marshall. From that time until the decline of the railroad industry after World War II, the Texas and Pacific railroad was the largest employer in Marshall and Harrison County. Marshall was the largest city in East Texas until the discovery of oil and gas in the early 1930’s.

Higher education has always played a prominent role in Marshall. In 1844 Sam Houston chartered Marshall University which was discontiued in the early 1900’s. In 1872, the Northern Methodist Freedman’s Aid Society established Wiley University, a college for African Americans which is now a four-year college. The Northern Baptist Home Missionary Society founded Bishop College in 1882. It remained in Marshall until 1962, when it moved to Dallas. In 1912, the College of Marshall eventually became a four-year institution and was renamed East Texas Baptist University. Panola College, a two-year junior college based in Carthage, maintains a permanent campus in Marshall. Texas State Technical College established a campus in Marshall in 1992.