Tag: Kilgore
Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk Counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the home of Kilgore College, and was also the childhood home (from age six) of famous classical pianist Van Cliburn. The population was 12,975 at the 2010 census.
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 a small community approximately 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Longview, New Danville, in lieu of a new townsite platted on 174 acres (0.70 km) sold to the rail by Constantine Buckley Kilgore, the town’s namesake. The new town received a post office in 1873 and soon began to draw residents and businesses away from New Danville. By 1885, the population had reached 250 and the community possessed two cotton gins, a church, and its own school. The Kilgore Independent School District was organized in 1910, and by 1914 the town had two banks, several…
