Marshall

Marshall and Harrison County were important political and production areas of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. This area of Texas was developed for cotton plantations. Planters brought slaves with them from other regions or bought them in the domestic slave trade. The county had the highest number of slaves in the state, and East Texas had a higher proportion of slaves than other regions of the state. The wealth of the county and city depended on slave labor and the cotton market.

From the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, Marshall developed as a center of the Texas and Pacific Railway. After World War II, activists in the city's substantial African-American population worked to create social change through the civil rights movement, with considerable support from the historically black colleges and universities in the area.

The city is known for holding one of the largest light festivals in the United States, the "Wonderland of Lights". It calls itself the "Pottery Capital of the World" for its sizable pottery industry.