Harrison County Historical Markers

Part of our in-depth series exploring Texas Forest Trail Region Forts

Markers (click on a topic to jump to that section).

Anderson, Bailey | Capitol Hotel | Clark, Governor Edward | Confederate Capitol of Missouri | Confederate Hat Factory | Davidson Homestead | Delafield, William | Ector, Matthew Duncan | Farmer, Sr., James Leonard | Ginocchio-Cook-Pedison House | Greenwood Cemetery | Greer, Home Town of Texas Confederate General Elkanah | Hallsville | Harrison County | Hawthorn, Alexander Travis | Houston's 1857 Campaign, Sam | Johnson, Hometown of Mrs. Lyndon B. | Lane, Walter Paye | Library Movement in Marshall | Loughery, Robert W. | Marshall | Marshall | Marshall Cemetery | Marshall Pottery | Marshall Powder Mill | Marshall, C.S.A. | Marshall-Shreveport Stagecoach Road | Murrah, Home of Last Texas Confederate Governor Pendleton | Noonday Holiness Camp Interdenominational | Solomon Ruffin Perry | Pickens, Girlhood Home of Southern Beauty Lucy Holcombe | Starr, James Harper | Swanson's Landing | Texas & Pacific Depot | Trammel's Trace Cabin | Turner House | Van Zandt Hill | Williamson House, Judge J. B. | Woodley Cemetery

Uncommemorated Sites (click on a topic to jump to that section).

Fort Crawford

Anderson, Bailey

Marker Title: Bailey Anderson
City: Elysian Field
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1975
Marker Location: FM 31 and CR 1402
Marker Text: (1754-1840) A veteran of the American Revolution, Bailey Anderson was born in Stafford County, VA. About 1760, he moved with his parents John and Sarah (Carney) Anderson to the Newberry District of South Carolina. At 21, he was in the Revolutionary army and during the next 11 years saw service in Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas, fighting Indians and the British, scouting and patrolling. His father and two of his brothers were killed in the conflict. About 1795, Bailey Anderson moved to Kentucky. There he served in the State Legislature, 1800-1802. In 1810 he moved to Indiana, to try life on another frontier. He migrated to East Texas about 1818. Although it was in dispute, Americans then considered this a part of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1820, when Spanish soldiers came from Mexico to evict the East Texas filibusters, Anderson and his family went to Arkansas Territory, but returned about 1821 as permanent settlers. The land surrounding this marker was in a grant from the Republic of Texas to Bailey Anderson, Jr., a soldier in the Texas War for Independence. Nearby, in the family cemetery, is the grave of Bailey Anderson, a veteran of the American Revolution.

Capitol Hotel

Marker Title: Site of the Capitol Hotel
Address: East Houston St. at Bolivar
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1974
Marker Text: A 3-story brick structure built on this site in 1857 by business leader George B. Adkins (1810-76), and called "Adkins House", ranked as a very fine hotel and served as depot for stage lines, including southern branch of Butterfield Mail, 1858-61. In this hotel the Confederate governor of Missouri, functioning in exile in Marshall, held several conferences with the Civil War governors of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. Afterward the hotel was renamed "The Capitol." it continued as host to celebrities for years. In 1915, first floor was converted to mercantile uses. The building was razed in 1971-72.

Clark, Governor Edward

Marker Title: Governor Edward Clark
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Location: Marshall Cemetery, US 80 at Columbus St.
Marker Text: (1815-1880) Born in Georgia. Came to Texas in 1842. Served as a member of Annexation Convention. Fought in war with Mexico. Held office as State Representative, Senator, Secretary of State, Lieutenant Governor; Governor in 1861. Raised and led 14th Texas Infantry Regiment in Red River campaigns of Civil War. Wounded in Battle of Pleasant Hill, 1865. Was a lawyer and businessman after the war.

Confederate Capitol of Missouri

Marker Title: Confederate Capitol of Missouri
Address: 402 S. Bolivar St.
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Location: at Marshall Medical Center
Marker Text: On this site a one-story frame house served as headquarters of the Civil War State Government of Missouri in exile. Governor Thomas C. Reynolds and his staff directed the civil and military affairs of Confederate Missourians from Marshall beginning in November, 1863 until June, 1865. The governor's mansion was in a one-story frame cottage then located directly west across the street. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy

Confederate Hat Factory

Marker Title: Site of The Confederate Hat Factory in Marshall, C.S.A.
Address: 201 W. Grand Ave.
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1976
Marker Text: Texas had very few factories in 1861 when she joined the Confederate States of America and went to war on the issue of states' rights. Some of the manufacturing plants necessary to supply military goods were thereupon established in and around Marshall, which later (1863) became headquarters for Confederate operations west of the Mississippi River. At the site of this marker, there was operated in the basement of a dwelling house a factory which brought high quality fur felt from a plant situated on Young's Mill Pond near Hallsville (13 mi. W). and made military hats to outfit Texas soldiers and other troops fighting for the Confederacy. Some 40 men were employed here in blocking and finishing hats and in making blankets and saddle blankets. Successive generations of the Edmund Key family owned and occupied the house where the Confederate Hat Factory had been operated during the Civil War. After the structure burned in 1962 the Key family tendered (in 1975) the site to the Harrison County Conservation Society as a park dedicated in memory of civic leaders Edmund and Rae Lyttleton Key.

Davidson Homestead

Marker Title: Site of Davidson Homestead
City: Harleton
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Text: On this land, purchased by Isaiah Davidson (1814-1900), one of the first frame houses in this section of the state was built in 1867. Davidson, of Scottish descent, moved to Texas from Georgia with his wife, Mary Little, and children Elias, Frank, Lizzie, and Houston. His oldest son, John, who was a Confederate soldier, acquired land adjoining. Two other sons, Whitfield and Henry, died in the Civil War. This site soon became a mecca for members of the Davidson clan as they moved to Texas. The land was also on an old wagon road over which crops were hauled from "Blackland Country" (around Dallas) to Port of Jefferson. Family property, which totals 3,200 acres (five sections), is today owned by descendant T. Whitfield Davidson.

Delafield, William

Marker Title: William Delafield
City: Hallsville
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1972
Marker Location: from Hallsville, go 6 mi. N on FM 450, then 3 mi. W on Keasler Rd. (CR 3628) at Lagrone Cemetery
Marker Text: A veteran of the American Revolution; lived in this area as patriarch of a family whose history typifies westward movement of the people of the United States. Son of Nicholas Delafield, a cooper in the English Navy in 1740s and an artisan living in Mecklenburg County, Va., as early as the 1760s. William Delafield as a lad of 16 served in the militia company of a neighbor, Capt. Reuben Vaughan, during the year 1779 when the former American colonies-joined together against the tyranny of George III of Great Britain. In 1785 William Delafield, then 22, moved to Georgia. There he brought up a family and in 1827 was awarded land on basis of his Revolutionary War service. By 1832 he and a son Nicholas lived in Alabama, where in 1836 both received land grants in Barbour County. The son in 1846 settled here in Harrison County, Tex. By 1850 William Delafield also lived here, where he was known to neighbors as an elderly man who sat in a rocking chair relating stories of old times. He had lost a leg, probably in frontier fighting in Georgia against the Indians. His descendants include persons who have attained distinction in military and civilian life in Texas and other states.

Ector, Matthew Duncan

Marker Title: Matthew Duncan Ector
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Marker Location: Greenwood Cemetery, W end of East Avenue
Marker Text: (Star and Wreath) Brigadier General, C. S. A. Participated in Battles of Richmond, Ky., Murfreesboro, Chicamauga, Atlanta, Defense of Mobile. Erected by the State of texas 1962

Farmer, Sr., James Leonard

Marker Title: James Leonard Farmer, Sr.
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1997
Marker Location: Wiley College Campus, near intersection of Wiley and James Farmer St.
Marker Text: (June 12, 1886 - May 14, 1961) James Leonard Farmer, Sr., was the son of Carolina and Lorena Wilson Farmer. James Farmer studied at Cookman Institute in Florida before attending Boston University, where he received a bachelors degree in 1913, a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree in 1916, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1918. He also attended graduate school at Harvard University in 1917. An elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Farmer served as pastor of churches in Marshall, Texarkana, and Galveston. He also taught philosophy and religion here at Wiley College, at Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, at Samuel Huston (now Huston-Tillotson) College in Austin, at Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia, at Gulfside Ministerial Training School in Waveland, Mississippi, and at Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, D.C. A popular speaker, Farmer also was the author of several books, as well as biblical commentary and articles for secular magazines. Farmer married Pearl Houston; they were the parents of three children. Their son, James Leonard Farmer, Jr., became a prominent civil rights leader in the 1960s and founder of the Congress of Racial Equality. Farmer, Sr., retired in 1956, died in 1961, and was buried in Washington, D.C. (1997)

Ginocchio-Cook-Pedison House

Marker Title: Ginocchio-Cook-Pedison House
Address: 615 N. Washington at Ginnocchio St.
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1973
Marker Text: Italian-American business leader Charles Ginocchio (1844-98) and wife Roxana settled in Marshall in 1871; built this home, 1886. Architect: C. G. Lancaster, designer of county courthouse. In Ginocchio household was a nephew, George J. Signaigo, whose parents-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Behn Cook, bought place in 1900, had Signaigos live with them until 1912, retained title until 1945. Owners since 1945: Grecian-Americans, Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Pedison, ex-operators of Ginocchio Hotel dining room. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1973

Greenwood Cemetery

Marker Title: Greenwood Cemetery
Address: W end of East Avenue
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Text: Dedicated 1881. Originated 1840 as private burial ground, Van Zandt family. Resting place, many early Texas leaders and patriots: Isaac Van Zandt (1813-47), came to Marshall in 1839. County named in his honor. James Harper Starr (1809-90), land commissioner, banker, land agent, county named for him. Matthew Duncan Ector (1822-79), brigadier general CSA, lawyer, county named for him. Alexander Travis Hawthorne (1825-99), brigadier general CSA, lawyer, businessman, minister. Charles Raguet Bringhurst (1880-82), grandson of Sam Houston. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967

Greer, Home Town of Texas Confederate General Elkanah

Marker Title: Home Town of Texas Confederate General Elkanah Greer
Address: Courthouse lawn, Houston at Washington
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Text: (1825-1877) Born Tennessee. Fought Mexican War. Came to Texas 1848. Commissioned colonel and raised 3rd Texas Cavalry. Attached to Ross' Texas Brigade. Fought at Wilson's Creek, Mo. Led brigade, division in Pea Ridge, Ark. Battle. Resigned commission but was recalled as brigadier general October 1862. Chief Conscription Bureau for Confederacy west of Mississippi 1863. Worked to reconcile Confederate and Texas draft laws. Commanded Texas Reserved Corps in 1864-65 keeping them in readiness to withstand threatened Union coastal invasion. Organized slave labor to build roads, fortifications for state defense. Buried Memphis, Tenn. Knights of the Golden Circle.

Hallsville

Marker Title: Hallsville
Address: 200 W. Main (US 80)
City: Hallsville
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1973
Marker Location: at Harrison County Sub-Courthouse
Marker Text: Formerly Hallville. Successor to Fort Crawford and Ash Springs, pioneer settlements of 1840s. Hallsville was founded when Texas & Pacific Railway was built. First train arrived Aug. 17, 1869. Western terminus for a time, and site (1870-73) of T. & P. shops, town attracted ox-wagon freighting in wool, cotton and buffalo hides from the West. Hallsville, named for Kentuckians Elijah and Volney Hall, received charter Aug. 13, 1870. Volney Hall was a vice president of the old Southern Pacific Railway, which was rechartered as the T. & P. Acquired Sub-Courthouse, 1965.

Harrison County

Marker Title: Harrison County
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: in roadside park on US 80, 5.9 mi. E of US 59
Marker Text: Formed from Shelby County; created January 28, 1839; organized June 12, 1842. Named in honor of Jonas Harrison, a pioneer statesman of New Jersey, who came to Texas in 1820. A member of the First Convention of Texas held at San Felipe in 1832. Died in 1836. Marshall, the county seat. Named in honor of John Marshall, chief justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Hawthorn, Alexander Travis

Marker Title: Alexander Travis Hawthorn
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Location: Greenwood Cemetery, W. end of East Avenue
Marker Text: (January 10, 1825 - May 31, 1899) Native of Alabama, Arkansas lawyer, colonel commanding 6th Arkansas Confederate Infantry Regiment at Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, commended for action at Helena and Fort Hindman in Arkansas, brigadier-general in Confederate Army, commended for gallantry while leading brigade in Battle of Jenkins' Ferry in Arkansas, postwar Georgia businessman, Baptist minister in Texas from 1880 to 1899. Erected by the State of Texas, 1963

Houston's 1857 Campaign, Sam

Marker Title: Sam Houston's 1857 Campaign in Marshall
Address: W. Burleson and N. Franklin St.
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1991
Marker Location: on the NE corner
Marker Text: On May 23, 1857, during his first Texas gubernatorial race, Sam Houston came to Marshall, the hometown of two of his most outspoken critics, Robert Loughery and Louis T. Wigfall, for a much anticipated debate against his opponent Hardin Runnels. Here under an oak tree, in an overwhelmingly secessionist area, the Unionist Houston spoke so eloquently that Runnels, who was scheduled to follow, declined to speak. Though he lost the election, Houston's stirring oratory brought him forty-eight percent of the Harrison County vote.

Johnson, Hometown of Mrs. Lyndon B.

Marker Title: Hometown of Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson
Address: FM 134 at Spur 449
City: Karnack
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Text: (Wife of 36th President of the United States) On December 22, 1912, in the family home 2.7 miles south, was born Claudia Alta Taylor. She was third child (only daughter) of Thomas Jefferson and Minnie Pattillo Taylor. Her father had a general store in Karnack for many years. Young "Lady Bird" (a pet name originated by her nurse, Alice Tittle) attended public schools in Fern community, near here, and in Jefferson and Marshall, and earned Bachelor of Arts and Journalism degrees at the University of Texas. On November 17, 1934, she married Lyndon Baines Johnson, congressional staff member who became head of National Youth Administration in Texas in 1935. The Johnsons are parents of two daughters, Lynda Bird and Luci Baines. During her husband's rise to world leadership-- as United States Congressman, Senator, Senate Majority Leader, Vice President, and President-- Mrs. Johnson added to role of wife and mother that of hostess to many of the greatest statesmen of the world. As First Lady of the United States, she is true to her East Texas heritage of love for gardens, trees, unspoiled natural scenery, and historic sites. She sponsors vital national programs of conservation, beautification, and historical preservation. Outstanding Women of Texas Series, 1967.

Lane, Walter Paye

Marker Title: Walter Paye Lane
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1962
Marker Location: Marshall Cemetery, US 80 at Columbus St.
Marker Text: (Star and Wreath) Soldier in the Texas War for Independence. Major in the Mexican War. Brigadier general, C.S.A. Erected by the State of Texas, 1962

Library Movement in Marshall

Marker Title: The Library Movement in Marshall
Address: 213 W. Austin at Franklin St.
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1976
Marker Text: Twenty-five Marshall ladies formed the Ingleside Circulating Book Club in 1887, each member buying a book and making exchanges. When that club and four others organized a federation in 1899, their first civic goal was a city library. Use of a feed store loft was donated by the federation president and her husband. The library opened in 1900 with 174 books and with hay-bales for chairs. After a charter was obtained Oct. 24, 1902, the library moved to the City Hall, where it operated until a 1923 fire. At the City Hall, $1-a-year reading tickets gave admission to the public. these tickets plus funds raised by the clubwomen provided 69 years of city library services without the use of public tax revenues. This graceful Georgian structure was built after the clubs worked on funding for over 20 years and after the City Hall fire. Erected in 1926 at cost of $34,046.93, it was ideal in its appointments at that time, but was later outgrown. Finally the city was persuaded to support a municipal library, and on Oct. 28, 1971, the clubwomen handed over the keys to their building, books, and furniture. On completion of a new, larger city library facility in 1973, this building came to house other civic endeavors.

Loughery, Robert W.

Marker Title: Robert W. Loughery, Civil War Editor
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1983
Marker Location: 309 E. Austin St.
Marker Text: In the mid-nineteenth century Robert W. Loughery (b. 1820) was one of East Texas' best known journalists through his association with several Harrison County newspapers. As owner and editor of Marshall's "Texas Republican", he supported such controversial issues as slavery, secession and the Confederacy, while boldly denouncing his opposition. After the Civil War he wrote for other papers around the state and was appointed United States Consul in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1885. He retired to Marshall, where he died in 1894, and is buried in the Marshall Cemetery.

Marshall

Marker Title: Marshall
Address: Courthouse lawn
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1991
Marker Location: Houston at Washington St.
Marker Text: Two years after Harrison County was created by the Republic of Texas Congress in 1839, landowner Peter Whetstone offered property for a courthouse, a church, and a school in an effort to persuade county officials to locate the seat of government in the new town formed on his land. Isaac Van Zandt, the local representative to the Republic Congress, named the new community Marshall in honor of U. S. Chief Justice John Marshall. By 1850 it had become one of the wealthiest towns in East Texas, with a population of about 2,000 and a number of cultural, religious, and civic organizations. An important Confederate stronghold during the Civil War, Marshall was home to the wartime capital of Missouri and the postal headquarters of the South's Trans-Mississippi Department. Following the war, it was the site of an office of the Freedmen's Bureau. After the Texas and Pacific Railway located its division point, shops, and offices here in the 1870s, Marshall became a major regional marketing and educational center. Colleges located here included Marshall University, Marshall Masonic Female Institute, Wiley College, Bishop College, and East Texas Baptist College (later East Texas Baptist University).

Marshall

Marker Title: Marshall
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Location: US 59 N, just S of Loop 390, Marshall
Marker Text: Founded 1839. Named for John Marshall, Chief Justice of U.S. Supreme Court. Supply, ordnance, medical, telegraph and military headquarters during Civil War. The Confederate capital of Missouri was located here. Trade, industry, rail and historical center.

Marshall Cemetery

Marker Title: Marshall Cemetery
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Marker Location: US 80 at Columbus St., Marshall
Marker Text: Incorporated Dec. 12, 1849. Resting place of many early Texas leaders and patriots: Edward Clark (1815-80), Governor of Texas, 1861; Colonel, C.S.A. Walter P. Lane (1817-92) veteran of Texas Revolution and Mexican war; Brigadier General, C.S.A. John T. Mills (1817-71), Associate Justice Supreme Court, Republic of Texas; District Judge in the state; a county is named for him. Horace Randal (1833-64), Brigadier General, C.S.A.; also honored by naming of county in his memory. Unknown soldiers who died in local hospitals, honored by an obelisk erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Marshall Pottery

Marker Title: Marshall Pottery
Address: 4901 Elysian Fields Rd. (SH 31), SE limits of Marshall
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1996
Marker Text: Kentucky native W. F. Rocker founded the Marshall Pottery in 1895. The locale, apparently not legally owned by Rocker, contained spring-fed water and vast quantities of white clay, the two natural ingredients needed for the production of pottery. The business began with six employees, one wood-fired rock kiln, a mule-powered clay grinder and one man-powered kickwheel for turning the stoneware. Goods were delivered by mule and wagon in Texas and Louisiana. Rocker sold the business, later acquired by Charles Studer. In 1905 Studer turned over the operation to Sam H. Ellis (1861-1938), a blacksmith for the Texas & Pacific railroad. The stoneware business was expanded by Ellis, who employed several family members. New products were added to the line of items made, and the company became one of the largest manufacturers of clay garden pots in the United States. Fire destroyed a majority of the pottery facility in 1962, but it was rebuilt. A retail store was added in 1974, and the pottery operation was promoted throughout the region as a tourist attraction. the Ellis family sold the business in 1983. Most of the commercial potteries in Harrison county trace their roots to the Marshall Pottery, established more than 100 years ago.

Marshall Powder Mill

Marker Title: Marshall Powder Mill
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1988
Marker Location: just N off Loop 390 between FM 1997 S and FM 1997 N
Marker Text: Throughout the Civil War, the Confederate Army struggled with the problem of lack of military stores. Following the fall of Vicksburg to Union forces in 1863, the supply of ordnance from Richmond was cut off. The Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy of which Texas was a part, established arsenals and ordnance stores at four sites in Arkansas. By the summer of 1863 the strategic position in Arkansas had become precarious, and the operations were relocated. The installation formerly at Arkadelphia was moved to Marshall at the end of August 1863. Buildings were erected here for the manufacture of small arms, shops for smiths and carpenters, a magazine, and a powder mill. The powder mill was in full operation sometime between March and August of 1864. The arsenal, completed by the time of the war's end in May 1865, produced gunpowder and repaired small arms for the Confederate Army. Following the surrender of the Confederate forces, the installation at Marshall was abandoned. After Federal forces occupied the town and began to dismantle the machinery, an explosion occurred which killed three soldiers and wounded two others.

Marshall, C.S.A.

Marker Title: Marshall, C.S.A.
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Location: in Marshall Cemetery, US 80 at Columbus St., Marshall
Marker Text: As a center of activity for the Confederacy west of the Mississippi, this East Texas town played a major role in the Civil War. Headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Department Medical Bureau and Postal Service were here plus two military hospitals and a commissary bureau. An ordnance bureau, depot, arsenal, and laboratory produced and distributed powder, pistols, saddles, harness and clothing. Following the occupation of Missouri by Union forces, the governor and other officials of that state made this the wartime Confederate capitol of Missouri from November, 1863 to June, 1865. Three wartime conferences of governors and Confederate military officials of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri met here. One in 1862, resulted in the establishment of a separate department for these states. In 1863 military and civil authority was consolidated under Gen. E. Kirby Smith, commander of the department. On May 15, 1865, one month after Appomattox, discussion of continued resistance or surrender resulted in a stalemate. Prominent Confederates from Marshall were Edward Clark and Pendleton Murrah, wartime governors of Texas; Louis T. Wigfall, a "state's rights" leader in the U. S. Senate prior to secession and member of Confederate Senate; Dr. James Harper Starr, Trans-Mississippi postal agent; and Brigadier-Generals Matthew D. Ector, Elkanah Greer, Walter P. Lane and Horace Randal. This was the home of Lucy Holcomb Pickens, "Sweetheart of the Confederacy," the only woman whose portrait graced Confederate currency. Rather than surrender at War's end, a number of high-ranking Confederate military and civil officials began an exodus from Marshall to Mexico. A Memorial To Texans Who Served The Confederacy

Marshall-Shreveport Stagecoach Road

Marker Title: Marshall-Shreveport Stagecoach Road
City: Marshall vicinity
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1979
Marker Location: SH 43 at Pine Bluff Rd., 5.5 mi. NE of Marshall
Marker Text: Before the Civil War (1861-65), the stage road was the main transportation artery between Marshall and Shreveport, providing a link with New Orleans for distant markets. Extending northeast from Marshall, the stage road paralleled the later route of State Highway 43 and passed about 2.5 miles north of this site. Merging with the route from Jefferson, it turned southeast toward Waskom. In some areas, iron-rimmed wheels and horses' hooves trampled the narrow roadbed as much as 12 feet below the surrounding terrain. Travel over the dirt road was uncomfortable in dry weather and often impossible in rainy seasons. Regular stage service was established by 1850, with three arrivals and three departures weekly from Marshall. Arrival of the stage was a major event. At the sound of the driver's bugle, townspeople rushed to meet the incoming coach. By 1860 Marshall had several stagecoach lines and a network of roads. The Marshall to Shreveport line was operated by plantation owner William Bradfield and his son John. The stage continued to run during the Civil War, despite the shortage of drivers and horses. Use of the stage road declined after the war, when the Southern Pacific completed a rail line to Shreveport. (1979)

Murrah, Home of Last Texas Confederate Governor Pendleton

Marker Title: Home of Last Texas Confederate Governor Pendleton Murrah
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Location: NW corner of Medill and S. Washington (1207 S. Washington)
Marker Text: (Star and Wreath) (1824-1865) Born South Carolina. Successful lawyer and businessman in Marshall. Elected to Texas Legislature 1857. At start of Civil War, served as colonel 14th Texas Cavalry. Governor 1863-1865, the most trying years of Confederacy. Debt, need, dependents of soldiers, and Confederate demands for more men and supplies all plagued his tenure. Conditions at time are shown by fact that cake served at his inaugural state dinner was made of corn meal. Early in his term, the South was split in two by loss of Mississippi River. Texas became the main source of supply, food and arms for western half.

Noonday Holiness Camp Interdenominational

Marker Title: Noonday Holiness Camp Interdenominational
City: Hallsville
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1968
Marker Location: 4 mi. north of Hallsville on FM 450 near Noonday Cemetery.
Marker Text: Founded in 1897 by J. M. Black, T. P. Black, F. E. Dickard, J. B. LaGrone, J. J. Koon and G. B. Richardson, early civic leaders who were businessmen and landowners. The first two annual camp meetings were held under brush arbors on site given by Mrs. Alfred Beaty and Messrs. Will Schaffer, Will Brazzil and G. W. Croft. Tabernacle was built here in 1900. A plantation bell announced services. In early days, guests came by special trains. Camp is controlled by a board of managers who maintain the facilities and conduct business.

Solomon Ruffin Perry

Marker Title: Solomon Ruffin Perry
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1967
Marker Location: Marshall Cemetery
Marker Text: (June 2, 1810-Jan. 13, 1895) Born in Louisburg, N. C.; came to Texas 1833. Never carried a gun, though he lived in locality of 1840's regulator-moderator feud, and risked life to help bury Robert Potter (first secretary of Navy, Republic of Texas), who had been shot by an enemy. Was elected county sheriff in 1848 after his predecessor was assassinated. Served 27 years-- consecutively from 1878 to 1895. Married Mary Susan James. Had a son and two daughters.

Pickens, Girlhood Home of Southern Beauty Lucy Holcombe

Marker Title: Girlhood Home of Southern Beauty Lucy Holcombe Pickens
Address: 310 N. Fulton
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Location: 310 N. Fulton at W. Burleson
Marker Text: (1832-1899) Only 19th century Texas woman honored by a portrait on money-the Confederate $100 bill. In 1850s Lucy introduced ice tea and silk hose to East Texas, in social affairs at Wyalucing-her family's home which stood at this site and was a center for social and cultural life in a wide area of plantations. Her husband was the Civil War Governor of South Carolina; her 2 brothers were Texas soldiers. Wyalucing (razed 1962) became 1863-65 headquarters for the Confederate Post Office Department in the area west of the Mississippi River. Supplemental Plate, 1989: This historical marker was relocated in 1990 from the site of Wyalucing (0.4 mi. West on Burleson Street) to the First Presbyterian Church. The Holcombe family was closely associated with the church, which was organized at Wyalucing on May 30, 1850. Lucy Pickens' father, B. L. Holcombe, was the congregation's first ruling elder. Lucy Holcombe was received into the membership of the church in 1853.

Starr, James Harper

Marker Title: James Harper Starr
Address: Courthouse lawn
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1963
Marker Text: Connecticut-born. Came to Texas 1837. A doctor in Nacogdoches. Secretary of the Treasury and army surgeon, Republic of Texas. At start of Civil War appointed to take and sell the property of enemy aliens, the proceeds going to Treasury of Confederacy to aid the war effort. Became Postmaster General for western C.S.A. in 1864. The South was then spit in two parts by federal control of the Mississippi River. Starr's problem was to provide mail service in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas and to devise means to get mail through the enemy military lines and naval blockade to and from westerners fighting east of the river and the confederate capital. This was essential to soldier and home front morale and to maintain necessary military and governmental communications. The mail was carried by pony express, wagons, blockade running vessels, stage coach lines, couriers, spies and army details. Starr competed with the army to get drivers, wagons and horses. Draft by military of postal employees was fought by writs of habeas corpus. "Men" under 16 were hired. Printing facilities were limited and forms, supplies, stamps had to be smuggled. The children of a cabinet officer once came through enemy lines with $3,000,000 worth of stamps for him. After the war, Starr in 1865 looked into East Texas oil showings. He founded Marshall's first bank. Starr county was named in his honor. Erected by the State of Texas 1963

Swanson's Landing

Marker Title: Swanson's Landing
City: Jonesville
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1969
Marker Location: on FM 134, about 1.5 mi. N of Jonesville
Marker Text: (Site 16 mi. NE; Historic Railroad Bed Here) A key port on Caddo Lake for traffic to New Orleans, 1830s-1860s. Founded by Peter Swanson (1789-1849), a civil engineer and planter. Cotton, pelts and other products went out and settlers' goods came in at this landing. 1850s terminal of Southern Pacific (first railroad in East Texas), built to Marshall from the landing. During Civil War, 1861-65, road was rerouted to haul troops between Marshall and western Louisiana. Later, port declined. Steamer "Mittie Stephens" on Feb. 11, 1869, burned near Swanson's Landing with loss of 69 lives.

Texas & Pacific Depot

Marker Title: Texas & Pacific Depot
Address: N. Washington St. at Ginocchio
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1985
Marker Text: Marshall's first railroad was conceived as a connection to Red River steamboat traffic. Twenty miles of track were laid northeast to Swanson's Landing on Caddo Lake by 1858. In 1871, the U. S. Congress authorized the Texas & Pacific Railway Company to build a transcontinental railroad, which would run along the 32nd parallel from Marshall to the West Coast. Two years later, the T&P moved its maintenance shops to Marshall. A new passenger depot was built here at the junction of the Texarkana and Louisiana lines in 1911-12, where it was positioned to serve both routes. To complement the nearby Ginocchio Hotel and huge Texas & Pacific shop complex, and visually to terminate Washington Street from the Courthouse. The railroad's architect was influenced by the popular prairie school and combined abstracted renaissance and Mediterranean details on the brick and concrete structure. Prominent features include a tile roof and wood and plaster accents. A pedestrian tunnel was added for safety in 1940. The Texas & Pacific depot remains an important symbol of Marshall's relationship to the railroad, once its major employer and transportation source. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985

Trammel's Trace Cabin

Marker Title: Trammel's Trace Cabin
Address: 301 Henley Perry Dr.
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1965
Marker Text: Built before 1842. Hand-hewn logs, chinked with pipe clay. For strength has butterfly mortising on log ends and beams with tee-braces. Was part of a 2-pen dog-trot house. Moved here, 1938, by Mr. and Mrs. Hobart Key, Jr. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965

Turner House

Marker Title: The Turner House
Address: 406 S. Washington Ave.
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1979
Marker Text: George Gammon Gregg, a leading merchant, built this frame house during the early 1850s. According to family tradition, Confederate veteran James Turner (d. 1913) acquired title to the property after a poker game in 1866. Turner was a noted lawyer and served four years as mayor of Marshall. His son Robert (1868-1927) added the front porch, with its Victorian columns, in 1890. Members of the Turner family owned the residence for over 100 years. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1979

Van Zandt Hill

Marker Title: Van Zandt Hill
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Marker Location: in front of Marshall Hall at East Texas Baptist College, N. Grove St., Marshall
Marker Text: Homesite of Isaac Van Zandt (1813-1847), one of founders of Marshall, a noted frontiersman, debater, lawyer, statesman; served in 5th and 6th congresses of Republic of Texas; was Charge d'Affaires to United States, 1842-1844. In governor's race when he died of yellow fever and was buried in family graveyard. Now in Greenwood Cemetery. This 100 acre Van Zandt tract was bought from heirs in 1912 by College of Marshall founders. First classes met in June, 1917. In 1944 the college was raised to senior rank and renamed East Texas Baptist College. Incise in base: Erected by senior class, 1967, on 55th anniversary of college.

Williamson House, Judge J. B.

Marker Title: Judge J. B. Williamson House
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1964
Marker Text: Ante-bellum plantation. Built in Republic of Texas, on headright surveyed 1838. Squared log cabins (still within walls) and 12-foot hall formed original house. Greek revival crosshall structure is attributed to Augustus Phelps, noted architect of the Republic. By tradition, Sam Houston often stopped here on way to Marshall to pay court to Miss Anna Raguet. 1963-65 restoration by Mr. and Mrs. Dick Hoskins Gregg. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1964

Woodley Cemetery

Marker Title: Woodley Cemetery
City: Marshall
County: Harrison
Year Marker Erected: 1993
Marker Location: 12 mi. SE of Marshall on SH 31, then W on Woodley Rd., 5 mi. to cemetery at intersection of West Rd.
Marker Text: Wingate Woodley arrived in the Republic of Texas in 1839 and settled in Harrison County shortly after its formation that year. He received a letter from his father, William (b. 1787), in 1840, asking that he leave the lawlessness of this area and return to the safety of his former home in Georgia. Wingate remained, and in 1843 his father and mother, Telitha (McMichael), left Alabama with their large family and traveled by wagon train to Harrison county. the cemetery began with the burial of their young daughter, Harriett Ellen, here on their family farm in 1844. Woodley family records suggest that this site was set aside for cemetery use in William Woodley's 1844 will. The will was subsequently lost and never probated. The families of William and Telitha's eleven children and their descendants formed the nucleus of the former community of Arleston and account for most of the people buried here. this site, property of Woodley descendants for more than 100 years, was legally set aside by descendants of George and Caroline (Woodley) McJimsey in 1970. Buried here are veterans of conflicts ranging from the Creek Indian War (Alabama - 1836) to the Korean Conflict. The Woodley Cemetery Trust was established in 1986 to maintain this site.

Fort Crawford

The following excerpt is from the book, Texas Forts, by Wayne Lease.

This fort (either family or Texas) was built near Hallsville in the lawless Neutral Zone between Louisiana and Texas in 1839, to protect settlers from Indians, renegades, and outlaws. The Neutral Zone was disputed land between Texas and Louisiana and attracted all sorts of criminals and bad characters. Sketches indicate that the fort may have been a military encampment with a two-story blockhouse built inside of a tall picket stockade fence that encircled the entire complex, it may have been a Texas Ranger encampment, or it may have been a family blockhouse enlarged by the Rangers. It did serve as a refuge for settlers when the Cherokee War broke out in 1839, although the supplies inside the fort were inadequate for the number of people there.

The number of families living in the fort was unknown but it was large enough for a traveling preacher to have delivered a sermon there. The site is on private property, and it is reported that there are no visible ruins of the fort.