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 usedlynchings to assert their dominance, in addition to the state'sdisenfranchisement of Blacks. From 1940 to 1970, in the second wave of theGreat Migration, many Blacks moved to the West Coast to escapeJim 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 Marshallmicropolitan statistical area, which is also included in theLongview-Marshall combined statistical area. It is located in theArk-La-Tex region.
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 theTexas Revolution, the Congress of the Texas Republic established Harrison County in 1839, formed fromShelby 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 establishPanola andUpshur counties.Marshall was founded in 1841 and was designated as the county seat in 1842.[1]
The area was settled predominantly by planters from the Southern United States, who developed this area for cotton plantations and brought enslavedAfrican Americans with them for labor, or purchased them at regional markets. The planters repeated much of their culture and society here.East Texas was the location of most of the cotton plantations in the state and, correspondingly, of most of the enslaved African Americans. Most of the fourteen Black-majority, plantation counties were located in East Texas. By 1850, landowners in Harrison County held more slaves than in any other county in Texas until the end of theCivil War. The census of 1860 counted 8,746 slaves in Harrison County, 59% of the county's total population.[1] In 1861, the county's voters (who were exclusively white males and mostly upper class) overwhelmingly supportedsecession from the United States.
Following defeat at the end of the American Civil War, the county was part of an area occupied by Federal troops underReconstruction. The white minority in the county bitterly resented federal authority and the constitutional amendment granting the franchise tofreedmen. A majority in the county, the freedmen elected a bi-racial county government dominated byRepublican Party officeholders. Republican dominance in local offices continued in the county until 1880, but the conservative whites of theDemocratic Party regained control of the state government before the official end of Reconstruction. In 1880, theCitizen's Party of Harrison County, amid charges of fraud and coercion, gained control of elected positions in the county government after winning on a technicality, which involved hiding a key ballot box.[1] They retained such control of the county into the 1950s, aided by the state'sdisenfranchisement of Blacks at the turn of the century by a variety of laws, including those to permitwhite primaries.[6] 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 theTexas 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.[1] But from 1880 to 1930, Harrison County remained primarily agricultural and rural. It had a 60 percent Black majority through 1930. During this period, most of the African Americans worked in agriculture astenant farmers andsharecroppers. Harrison County had a total of 14 lynchings.[7] 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".[8] 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 legislaturedisenfranchised most Blacks in 1901 by requiringpoll taxes and authorizingwhite 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.[9]
In 1928, oil was discovered in the county. Its exploitation and processing made a significant contribution to the economy.[1] TheGreat Depression of the 1930s hit the county hard, decimating the agricultural sector. Mobilization forWorld War II brought an end to the depression. As the defense industry built up in major cities and on the West Coast, from 1940 to 1970, a total of more than 4.5 million Blacks migrated from the South, particularly Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, for work and to escape continuing suppression under Jim Crow laws. They moved to the West Coast in the second wave of theGreat Migration, attracted to new jobs in the expanding defense industry. The population of the county declined until 1980, when the trend reversed. White migration from other areas has resulted in a majority-white population. In the realignment of parties in the South since the late 20th century, white conservative voters in Texas have left the Democratic Party to become overwhelmingly affiliated with the Republican Party.[1]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 916 square miles (2,370 km2), of which 900 square miles (2,300 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) (1.7%) is water.[10] The northern and eastern parts of the county are drained to theRed River in Louisiana by Little Cypress Creek, Cypress Bayou, andCaddo Lake. The other third of the county is drained by theSabine River, which forms a part of its southern boundary.[11] These waterways were critical to early transportation in the county.
Harrison County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 68,839. The median age was 38.6 years. 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.5 males age 18 and over.[18][19]
45.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 54.9% lived in rural areas.[20]
There were 25,648 households in the county, of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.4% were married-couple households, 17.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[18]
There were 29,223 housing units, of which 12.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 72.6% were owner-occupied and 27.4% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.7%.[18]
In 2000, the2000 U.S. census reported there were 62,110 people, 23,087 households, and 16,945 families residing in the county.[21] Thepopulation density was 69 people per square mile (27 people/km2). There were 26,271 housing units at an average density of 29 units per square mile (11/km2).
At the 2018American Community Survey, the median household income was $51,202, and 14.7% of the population was below the poverty line. The median gross rent in the county was $779 from 2014 to 2018, and the median house monthly owner costs without mortgage were $403. The median with a mortgage was $1,266.[22]
Panola College is the assigned community college for the majority of Harrison County, according to the Texas Education Code. The portion in Hallsville ISD is instead zoned toKilgore Junior College.[24]
^"Harrison County".Texas Almanac. Texas State Historical Association. RetrievedJune 20, 2015.
^Williams, Patrick G. “Suffrage Restriction in Post-Reconstruction Texas: Urban Politics and the Specter of the Commune.”The Journal of Southern History, vol. 68, no. 1, 2002, pp. 31–64. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3069690. Accessed September 7, 2020.
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