Kilgore, Texas
| Kilgore, Texas | |
|---|---|
| City | |
World's Richest Acre Park in downtown Kilgore, where the greatest concentration of oil wells in the world once stood.
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| Motto: "The City of Stars" | |
 Location of Kilgore, Texas |
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| Coordinates: 32°23′8″N 94°52′7″W / 32.38556°N 94.86861°WCoordinates: 32°23′8″N 94°52′7″W / 32.38556°N 94.86861°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 Texas
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| Counties | Gregg, Rusk |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-Manager |
| • City Council |
Mayor R.E. Spradlin III Merlyn Holmes Harvey McClendon Neil Barr Lori Weatherford |
| • City Manager | Josh Selleck |
| Area | |
| • Total | 15.7 sq mi (40.7 km2) |
| • Land | 15.7 sq mi (40.6 km2) |
| • Water | 0.04 sq mi (0.1 km2) |
| Elevation | 358 ft (109 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 12,975 |
| • Estimate (2015) | 14,947 |
| • Density | 953/sq mi (368.0/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 75662-75663 |
| Area code(s) | 903 |
| FIPS code | 48-39124 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1339101 |
| Website | cityofkilgore |
Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. Over three-fourths of the city limits is located in Gregg County, the remainder in Rusk County. Kilgore was the childhood residence from age six of the noted classical pianist Van Cliburn, the namesake for Van Cliburn Auditorium on the Kilgore College campus. The population was 12,975 at the 2010 census; a July 2015 estimate placed it at 14,947.
Kilgore was founded in 1872 when the International–Great Northern Railroad completed the initial phase of rail line between Palestine and Longview. The rail company chose to bypass New Danville, a small community about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Longview, in lieu of a new townsite platted on 174 acres (0.70 km2) sold to the railroad by Constantine Buckley Kilgore, the town's namesake. That way the railroad gained the profits from sale and development of these lands.
The new town received a post office in 1873 and, with a station and transportation for getting commodity crops to market, soon began to draw residents and businesses away from New Danville. By 1885, the population had reached 250, and the community had two cotton gins, a church, and its own school. The racially segregated Kilgore Independent School District was organized in 1910. By 1914 the town had two banks, several businesses, and a reported population of 700. The 1920s showed continued steady growth, and by 1929 Kilgore was home to an estimated 1,000 residents.
Prosperity came to a halt, however, when Kilgore was dealt severe blows by a steep decline in cotton prices (on which most of the town's economy was still based), and the effects of the Great Depression. Businesses began to close and, by the middle of 1930, the population had fallen to 500; the community appeared destined to become a ghost town. Black people joined the Great Migration out of the South to northern, midwestern, and western cities for work.
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