Harrison County

Harrison County, Texas

Harrison County, Texas

View of the Ginocchio Historic District in Marshall, the seat of Harrison County, Texas. Photograph by Renelibrary.
Harrison County, Texas

Harrison County, Texas

Map of Harrison County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Harrison County is located in northeastern Texas along the Louisiana border. Marshall, the county seat and largest town, is 152 miles east of Dallas and thirty-nine miles west of Shreveport. The county's center lies at 32°30' north latitude and 94°30' west longitude. Harrison County comprises 894 square miles of the East Texas timberlands, an area that is heavily forested with a great variety of softwoods and hardwoods, especially pine, cypress, and oak. The terrain is gently rolling, with an elevation ranging from 200 to 400 feet above sea level. Northern and eastern Harrison County, about two-thirds of the total area, is 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. Two soil types, upland sedimentary and lowland alluvial, are found in the county. The former, although not so rich as the alluvial, is primarily a sandy loam noted for being loose and easily cultivated. Mineral resources include oil, gas, and clays that have proved valuable for making bricks and pottery. Temperatures range from an average high of 95° F in July to an average low of 37° in January, rainfall averages slightly more than forty-six inches a year, and the growing season extends 245 days.

Caddo Indians lived in the East Texas timberlands for centuries before the arrival of Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century. Agriculturalists with a highly developed culture, the Caddoes were no match for European weapons and diseases. Consequently, American settlers, who began to arrive in large numbers during the 1830s, had few Indian problems in the area that became Harrison County. The settlement of the area was well under way by the time of the Texas Revolution in 1836. A dozen Americans received land grants there from Mexican authorities in the fall of 1835. After the revolution the area filled up so rapidly that the Congress of the Republic of Texas officially established Harrison County in 1839. It was drawn from Shelby County, organized in 1842, and named for Texas revolutionary leader Jonas Harrison. Marshall, founded in 1841, became the county seat in 1842. The original county boundaries were reduced by the establishment of Panola and Upshur counties in 1846. Since then, with the exception of a small adjustment with Marion County during Reconstruction, they have remained unchanged. Harrison County was settled predominantly by natives of the southern United States who duplicated the slaveholding, cotton-plantation society they had known before moving to Texas. By 1850 the county had more slaves than any other in the state, a distinction that it maintained through the next decade. The census of 1860 enumerated 8,784 slaves (59 percent of the total population), 145 planters who owned at least twenty slaves, and a cotton crop of 21,440 bales. Harrison County was among the richest and most productive in antebellum Texas.

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Randolph B. "Mike" Campbell | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Harrison County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

168 ft – 600 ft

Size

Land area does not include water surface area, whereas total area does

  • Land Area: 900.0 mi²
  • Total Area: 915.8 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 35.3°F
July mean maximum: 92.3°F

Rainfall, 2019

50.2 inches

Population Count, 2019

66,553

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

28,093

Unemployment, 2019

9.3%

Property Values, 2019

$7,733,226,748 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$41,917 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$652,650,752 USD

Wages, 2019

$306,816,915 USD

Harrison County

Highlighted:
  • Harrison County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
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Town 500 (2009) Yes
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Town 4,528 (2021) Yes
Town 390 (2009) Yes
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Town 22,662 (2021) Yes
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Town 75 (2009) Yes
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Town 179 (2021) Yes
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Town 338 (2021) Yes
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Town 1,946 (2021) Yes
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Town 550 (2009) Yes
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