Marshall, Texas

Marshall is a city in Harrison County in the northeastern corner of Texas. Marshall is a major cultural and educational center in East Texas and the tri-state area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population of Marshall was about 23,935. The city is the county seat of Harrison County.Marshall was a political and production center of the Confederacy during the Civil War and was a major railroad center of the T&P Railroad from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century. The city's large African American population and the presence of black institutions of higher learning made Marshall a center of the civil rights movement in the South. The city is known for holding one of the largest light festivals in the United States, the Wonderland of Lights, and, as the self-proclaimed Pottery Capital of the World, for its sizable pottery industry.Marshall is also referred to by various nicknames; the Cultural Capital of East Texas, the Gateway of Texas, the Athens of Texas the City of Seven Flags and Center Stage, a branding slogan adopted by the Marshall Convention and Visitors Bureau.On January 18, 2010 Dr. John Tennison, a San Antonio physician and musicologist presented to a group of Marshall citizens the findings of his research into the origins of Boogie Woogie music and his conclusion that Boogie Woogie music first developed in the Marshall area in the early 1870s in close connection with the T&P Railroad and the logging industry. On May 13, 2010, the Marshall City Commission unanimously passed an ordinance declaring Marshall, Texas to be "the Birthplace of Boogie Woogie."