History of Kilgore, Texas
This article traces the history of Kilgore, Texas, United States.
Indigenous period pre-European (-1500)
The Caddo are thought to be an extension of Woodland period peoples, the Fourche Maline and Mossy Grove cultures, whose members were living in the area of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas areas between 200 BCE and 800 CE. The Wichita and Pawnee are also related to the Caddo, since both tribes historically spoke Caddoan languages.
By 800 CE, this society had begun to coalesce into the Caddoan Mississippian culture. Some villages began to gain prominence as ritual centers. Leaders directed the construction of major earthworks known as platform mounds, which served as temple mounds and platforms for residences of the elite. The flat-topped mounds were arranged around leveled, large, open plazas, which were usually kept swept clean and were often used for ceremonial occasions. As complex religious and social ideas developed, some people and family lineages gained prominence over others.
By 1000 CE, a society that is defined by modern archaeologists as "Caddoan" had emerged. By 1200, the many villages, hamlets, and farmsteads established throughout the Caddo world had developed extensive maize agriculture, producing a surplus that allowed for greater density of settlement. In these villages, artisans and craftsmen developed specialties. The artistic skills and earthwork mound-building of the Caddoan Mississippians flourished during the 12th and 13th centuries.
The Caddo were farmers and enjoyed good growing conditions most of the time. The Piney Woods, the geographic area where they lived, was affected by the Great Drought from 1276 to 1299 CE, which covered an area extending to present-day California and disrupted many Native American cultures.
Territorial period (1500s–1872)
The Caddo inhabited the Kilgore area before it was settled by Europeans. All of Texas became part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain in the 16th century. The area was also claimed by the French, but in 1819 the Adams-Onís Treaty officially placed Kilgore well within Spanish territory by making the Red River the northern boundary of New Spain.One European who probably visited the Kilgore area was Athanase de Mezieres in 1778 as he described an area similar to East Texas. De Mezieres, a Frenchman in the service of the King of Spain probably crossed the West Fork of the Trinity River into present-day East Texas. He wrote:
Present-day Kilgore remained under Spanish rule until 1821, when Mexico declared independence from Spain, and the area became part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. The Republic of Texas broke off from Mexico in 1836 and remained an independent country for nearly 10 years.
This area was among early sections settled by United States immigrants before Texas became an independent republic, and after 1845, a state of the United States. It was an area developed as cotton plantations dependent on slave labor of African Americans. Lumbering of the pine forests was also pursued, especially in the early years of clearing the land for cultivation.
Settlement (1872–1930)
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 southeast of Longview, in lieu of a new townsite platted on 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.During this time Kilgore was only a local train farm depot, serving mostly as a central hub for the agricultural communities around it. Farmers relied on the trains to transport crops and livestock, linking Kilgore to larger markets beyond the local area. The town’s economy and activity revolved around this simple depot function.
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 a school.
Lynching of Nick Adkins (1889)
On the night of February 7, 1889, a Black man named Nick Adkins was killed by a mob near Kilgore in what is documented as a racially motivated lynching. The mob, described as "White Caps", consisted of five or six men disguised in women's clothing and sheets with eyeholes cut out.The perpetrators' target was a white schoolteacher named James Serins, who had taught at a local school for Black children for eight years and boarded at the home of Peter Strong, a local Black resident. The mob's intent was believed to be to either kill Serins or scare him out of the area. However, Serins was not at the house that night. When the mob attacked the home, Nick Adkins leapt from his bed in an attempt to escape and was shot six times and killed.
While a contemporary report in The Galveston Daily News stated it was "not known whether the mob was composed of white or colored men," the event is recognized as a case of white-on-black violence, typical of the era's racial tensions surrounding the education of African Americans.
The 1910's
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.Red Summer - period of white supremacist terrorism and racial riots in many U.S. cities (1919)
Lynching of "Shag"
On May 1, 1919, an African American man known only as "Shag" was lynched north of Kilgore. The circumstances remain unclear—no details about his full name, age, alleged crime, or manner of death were documented in contemporary records. This lynching is cataloged by the Lynching in Texas project as one of Texas's racial terror incidents.Longview race riot
In June, local man Lemuel Walters of Longview had been whipped by two white men from Kilgore, allegedly for making "indecent advances" toward their sister. Under Jim Crow, white men strictly monitored and discouraged relations between black men and white women, but not the reverse. Walters was arrested and put in jail in Longview. On June 17, he was abducted by a lynch mob consisting of ten men and subsequently shot to death later that night. His body was left near the railroad tracks. Dr. Davis, Jones, and some other respected black men went to Judge Bramlette in town, asking him to investigate the lynching. He asked for the names of people Jones had talked to at the jail. When no investigation was undertaken, the men returned to Judge Bramlette but became convinced he did not intend to pursue the case.Disarmament
Two months after the murder of "Shag" and during the Longview Race Riot, on July 15, 1919, Texas Governor William P. Hobby ordered the disarmament of all Kilgore residents. National Guardsmen and Texas Rangers confiscated firearms from citizens, including Boy Scouts' small rifles, as reported in front-page news stories. Contemporary newspapers explicitly linked this operation to Shag's lynching and subsequent unrest in nearby Longview, where racial violence had erupted after a Black newspaper published an article about Shag's killing. The Dallas Morning News and San Antonio Express claimed the disarmament proceeded "quietly" and that Shag "had no sympathizers here, not even among the local negro population"—statements reflecting the racial biases of the era.After 1919
The 1920s showed continued steady growth, and by 1929 Kilgore was home to an estimated 1,000 residents.Oil period (1930–1945)
Kilgore experienced growth after October 3, 1930, when wildcatter Columbus M. "Dad" Joiner struck oil near the neighboring town of Henderson.This well, known as the Daisy Bradford #3, marked the discovery of the vast East Texas Oil Field. Kilgore rapidly transformed from a small farming town on the decline into a bustling boomtown. The Daisy Bradford #3 was subsequently followed by the Lou Della Crim No. 1 and many others.The discovery of oil soon drew a large influx of workers—known as "boomers"—to Kilgore, rapidly transforming the town into a tent city. Many newcomers lived in makeshift shelters such as piano crates or wooden boxes, with a significant number settling in an area known as "Happy Hollow" — a term also used in Houston to describe a similar red-light and low-income district. The city became known for vice and lawlessness that it was said that "Both sides of town were on the wrong side of the tracks". Eventually, the homeless broke the windows of the Presbyterian Church. When members arrived for service, they found people living inside. During the service, one man stood up and said, "Brother, we're going to stay". In the midst of this frenzy of events, an incendiary fire broke out in Kilgore believed to be arson, that destroyed the Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches. A rumor spread that angry oilfield workers, upset over losing their jobs due to a rationing order that closed too many wells, were responsible for starting the blaze. After the churches were burned by vandals, Kilgore became known as "the city without any churches." Louise’s church, First Baptist, held services in homes and schools before building a location at "Happy Hollow" in 1933.
This rapid growth left most civic services overwhelmed, and as a result Kilgore was forced to incorporate in 1931 due to the crime, and unsafe conditions. With Malcolm Crim becoming the first mayor of Kilgore and with the city flooded with male workers and roustabouts, law enforcement struggled to keep order among the shanties, tents, and ramshackle honky-tonks that crowded Kilgore's main streets. On one occasion, they had to summon help from the Texas Rangers to keep the peace.