Marshall-Shreveport Stagecoach Road
Marshall, Harrison County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Before the Civil War, this stage road was the great overland artery between Marshall and Shreveport, connecting East Texas to New Orleans and its distant markets. Regular service ran by 1850, three coaches a week each way, and the bugle of an arriving stage sent townspeople rushing to greet the news and passengers it carried. So heavy was the traffic that iron-rimmed wheels and hooves cut the roadbed as much as twelve feet below the surrounding land before railroads finally rendered the coaches obsolete.
Why it matters
The stagecoach roads were the information and commerce highways of antebellum America, and their deep-worn ruts survive as physical evidence of the frontier's link to the wider world before the railroad age.
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Related people
- · William Bradfield
- · John Bradfield
Themes & tags
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