The Northeast Corner of Harrison County, Texas

This book is a history of the Northeast Corner of Harrison County, Texas, including the towns of Karnack, Uncertain and Leigh along with Caddo Lake and the surrounding areas. Several factors have made the northeast corner of Harrison County, Texas different from other parts of the county. Caddo Lake and Cypress Bayou on the northeastern boundary of the county provided easy transportation for people and products (especially cotton) to New Orleans. Port Caddo, with regular steamboat...
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This book is a history of the Northeast Corner of Harrison County, Texas, including the towns of Karnack, Uncertain and Leigh along with Caddo Lake and the surrounding areas. Several factors have made the northeast corner of Harrison County, Texas different from other parts of the county. Caddo Lake and Cypress Bayou on the northeastern boundary of the county provided easy transportation for people and products (especially cotton) to New Orleans. Port Caddo, with regular steamboat traffic by 1840, was the first important settlement outside of the county seat, although it disappeared when steamboats no longer navigated the lake and bayou. When the railroad built through the area in 1900, Karnack and Leigh grew up as railroad communities, with Karnack becoming the more important of the two. In 1942 a large government defense plant was built on the edge of downtown Karnack. That plant, which was closed after World War II but reopened as a result of the Korean War, operated until its official decommissioning in 1995. During part of that time, the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant was the largest employer in Harrison County. Uncertain, a small community located along the south shore of the lake, was incorporated in 1961 and caters to tourists drawn to the area by Caddo Lake State Park, Caddo Lake Wildlife Management Area (state-maintained), and the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge (occupying the former government defense plant reservation).