The End of the Beginning

By 1920, Longview boasted 9 1/2 miles of paved streets, concrete sidewalks, electric street lights, municipal garbage collection, and a paid fire department with the state's first two pumping trucks. In 1920, the Longview Rotary Club was organized as the city's first service club. By 1920-21, a 16-foot-wide strip of asphalt known as State Highway 15, future U.S. Highway 80, became the first paved road across Gregg County. In 1926, the East Texas Chamber of Commerce was formed and located its headquarters in Longview, with member cities including Dallas, Houston, and Shreveport, LA. In 1929, the five-story Gregg Hotel, later doubled in size by new owner Conrad Hilton, was constructed. However, Longview experienced economic instability. Cotton profits declined due to soil exhaustion and pests such as the boll weevil, and the lumber industry suffered as local timber was depleted. In January 1929, the Texas & Pacific moved its division offices and shops to Mineola, taking away 700 families. Then came the Great Depression.

Longview, Texas · United States