Harrison County, Texas
Harrison County is a county on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Texas. 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.
Harrison County | |
|---|---|
Harrison County Courthouse in Marshall | |
Location within the U.S. state of Texas | |
Texas's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 32°33′N 94°22′W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| Founded | 1842 |
| Named for | Jonas Harrison |
| Seat | Marshall |
| Largest city | Marshall |
| Area | |
| • Total | 916 sq mi (2,370 km2) |
| • Land | 900 sq mi (2,000 km2) |
| • Water | 16 sq mi (40 km2) 1.7% |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 68,839 |
| • Density | 75/sq mi (29/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
| Website | harrisoncountytexas |
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.