What to See in Marshall - Top Sights and Attractions

Museum in Marshall, Texas. The Michelson Museum of Art is a museum in Marshall, Texas that was founded to house the works of the Latvian-American artist Leo Michelson.

Michelson feared that if he donated his works to a large museum that they would largely be placed in storage. After Michelson's death in 1978 his wife Janine started to search for a location, and at the suggestion of family friend Wendy Russell Reves, chose Marshall, Texas (Mrs. Reves' birthplace).

The museum houses a permanent collection of works; including over a thousand paintings, drawings, and prints by Michelson. The museum's collection has expanded to include pieces not associated with Michelson. In 1999 the museum received the 20th-century American Art collection of Dr. Bernard and Gloria Kronenberg.

The collection includes paintings, drawings, lithographs and statues by fifty-three artists including Milton Avery and Georges Rouault. The Ramona and Jay Ward Collection of African Masks is another permanent collection and includes masks of the Yoruba, Senufo, and other West African peoples.^[1]

The Hagerty House, also called the Hagerty-Harris House, is a two-story house located on 505 East Rusk Street in Marshall, Texas. Built in 1889 by Thomas Higgins, it was the first solid brick residence in Marshall. It was built for William Phillip Hagerty, personal engineer of Texas and Pacific Railroad president George J. Gould by railway craftsmen. Born in 1848 in Ireland during the Great Famine, Hagerty was likely to be arrested by the British government due to his nationalist activities when he emigrated in 1866 to the United States.

Members of the Hagerty family owned the house until 1967. Five years later, it was sold to the Harris family. Dr. James H. Harris and his son Dr. Rush C. Harris restored the house.

The house was made a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and a historic marker was installed in 1977. It was also listed as a National Register of Historic Places the following year.^[7]

The Arnot House is a raised one-story house located at 306 W. Houston Street in Marshall, Texas. Built in 1848, it is one of the oldest houses in Marshall. An early Greek Revival style building, it is also described as a "classic Creole, or Louisiana raised-cottage, rendered in the Greek Revival style." It is made of wood frame on load-bearing brick basement/ground floor walls, with "Marshall Brown" brick laid in common bond. The front porch, which is covered by the house's gable roof, "is articulated with stout square columns, placing the house in the early phase of Greek Revival."

It was named after settlers Lucinda and Albert M. Arnot. Throughout its history the house has had several owners.

The house was made a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and a historic marker was installed in 1962. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 27, 1979.^[8]

The James Turner House, a one-story Greek Revival style building located on 406 North Washington Avenue in Marshall, Texas, was built by a merchant, George Gammon Gregg to be the home for him and his bride, Mary Ann Wilson, who were married in 1851. It was first located at the southeast corner of Crockett Street and Washington Avenue.

James Turner, an attorney and former Confederate soldier, acquired the house in 1866. He had moved to Marshall from Sumner County, Tennessee in 1858. Turner and his wife had nine children and he built a separate structure as a "dormitory" for the expanding family. Turner became mayor of Marshall. In 1890, his son Robert added the Victorian columns and front porch, after he moved into the house with his new wife. Robert owned the house after the death of his father in 1913.

It was moved in the 20th century from Lot 1, facing Crockett Street, to Lot 2, now facing North Washington Avenue. At that time, the "dormitory" was razed and the salvaged wood was used for an addition of a new kitchen, a bathroom, and another room. The house had been unoccupied and fallen into disrepair several years after being used as an office building by the Harrison County Charities. The house was restored in 1977 by Robert's daughter and last surviving child, Eleanor Turner Gillespie, to essentially its original design; She removed the addition and replaced the roof and damaged plaster.

The house was made a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and a historic marker was installed in 1979. It was also listed as a National Register of Historic Places that year.^[9]

Ginocchio Historic District, in Marshall, Texas is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The district takes its name from the Ginocchio family who operated a hotel, The Ginocchio, in the district during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The district houses numerous historic buildings including: Allen House, The Ginocchio, T&P Depot, the Heflin-Thompson House and the Whaley House. The district is also home to two museums the Harrison County Historical Museum in the Ginocchio and the T&P Railway Museum in the T&P Depot. On January 26, 2007, the Heflin-Thompson House caught fire and suffered much damage. Ricky Thompson, Joel and Michelle Heflin all lost their home and most of their belongings in the fire.

The museum was moved from the Ginocchio hotel to the rear of the Memorial City Hall located at the southeast corner of the town square, and the Ginocchio hotel is currently being renovated with the new Ginocchio Restaurant and Bar slated to open soon.

The T&P museum remains in the depot and is open according to their posted hours.^[10]