harrison county historical museum

We had a large group for a guided tour and it was great. The group was divided in half and there were two guides. Having the 10 minute film was a great added attraction. My group really enjoyed the museum and the added bonus of having a guide brought it to life.

Thank you for visiting our museum and the great review. We are so glad you enjoyed your time with us. As we say here in east Texas, "Yaw'll come back soon!."

Thank you for visiting our museum...and the great review. I am sorry your visit to Wonderland of Lights was not what you expected. The volunteers work really hard each year to put on this event for our visitors and our citizens. Thank you for pointing out what needs improvement--that is how we do better in the future.

A small museum located in a renovated historical courthouse. The history of Harrison County displayed right downtown. Walking distance to food, music and frequent festivals.

Actually we were a little skeptical at first of the quality of this museum because it only occupied the one floor of the old county courthouse. The courthouse itself is a sight to see. When we were asked to pay $5 each to see the museum we almost decided not to. However, we were told it was a very good depiction of Marshall's history, so we went ahead with it. Don't just walk through quickly, though. You'll get more out of it if you take time to read almost every word written, and see every display and picture, like we did. It took at least an hour. The organization was good, starting from the first known inhabitants of the area, the Caddo Indians, to modern day. There was even a good overall video that is good to see before starting the rounds of all the sections. There is also a good historical time line on an ipad that's available to give you an overall feel of what else was happening in the world at the various times. If you really want to know Marshall's history, go through this museum. We learned a lot. Several well known celebrities came from Marshall, news casters, athletes, and musicians. It was in a very unstable, crime filled area, because at one time no one was certain if it belonged to Spain or France, and later, whether it belonged to Texas or Louisiana, or whether it belonged to one county or the other. There is even a little community nearby named Uncertain because of this history. It is also the birthplace of boogie woogie music, which led to rock music, because of the time in history, i.e. being right after the Civil War, the insurgence of newly released slaves to work on the railroad, the presence of a piano in the building where they recreated after working on putting down tracks, and their creativity in creating music that was inspired by the rhythm of the train going down the tracks. Because of steam boats in the nearby river and lake, and later, the railroad, and the cotton economy, Marshall became one of the biggest cities in Texas. It is still an important Amtrak passenger train stop.