132 of 254 Gregg County Courthouse, Longview, Texas. County Population: 123,633
Gregg County, Texas
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"The first land patents in the area that became Gregg County were issued in 1835 by the Republic of Mexico and were subsequently recognized by the Republic of Texas. The earliest Republic of Texas grants were issued in 1838, and by 1858 almost all of the area that became Gregg County had been surveyed and patented.
"By 1872 both the International-Great Northern and the Texas and Pacific had built rail lines in the area that became Gregg County, which was marked off from southern Upshur County by the Thirteenth Texas Legislature on April 12, 1873. The bill originally called the new county Roanoke, but during passage of the legislation the name was changed to Gregg, in honor of Confederate war hero John B. Gregg. "Longview was selected as the county seat. By an act of the Fourteenth Legislature, on April 30, 1874, Gregg County was extended southward to add a portion of northern Rusk County. Suzanne Perry, "GREGG COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online "The town of Longview itself was founded in the early 1870s, when the Southern Pacific Railroad (later the Texas and Pacific) extended its track from Marshall in Harrison County westward into Gregg County." Eugene W. McWhorter, "LONGVIEW, TX (GREGG COUNTY)," Handbook of Texas Online I visited Gregg County and photographed the courthouse in Longview on Saturday, March 24, 2012, and again, on Saturday, June 7, 2014.
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Gregg County Courthouse 1879
Frederick Ernst Ruffini, Architect. Image courtesy THC
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Gregg County Courthouse 1897
Marshall R. Sanguinet, Architect. Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Gregg County Courthouse 1932
Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Architects Voelcker and Dixon of Wichita Falls designed the 1932 courthouse.
"The explosion of activity in Longview after the discovery of oil late in 1930 led to a need for a larger courthouse and increased jail space. In a bond election held August 22, 1931, a $650,000 road improvement bond was defeated, but a $200,000 courthouse and jail bond carried by an 11-vote majority.
"Because government business could not be disrupted, the new courthouse was built directly behind (to the north of) the existing courthouse. This seven-story building of art deco design with cream colored brick and limestone trim was built by C. S. Lambie and Company.
"To meet the needs of the growing county, annexes were added to each side of the courthouse in 1958. A seven-story annex was built on the west side of the block in 1982."
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~katloregen/MU_GreggCoCH.htm
"The explosion of activity in Longview after the discovery of oil late in 1930 led to a need for a larger courthouse and increased jail space. In a bond election held August 22, 1931, a $650,000 road improvement bond was defeated, but a $200,000 courthouse and jail bond carried by an 11-vote majority.
"Because government business could not be disrupted, the new courthouse was built directly behind (to the north of) the existing courthouse. This seven-story building of art deco design with cream colored brick and limestone trim was built by C. S. Lambie and Company.
"To meet the needs of the growing county, annexes were added to each side of the courthouse in 1958. A seven-story annex was built on the west side of the block in 1982."
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~katloregen/MU_GreggCoCH.htm
The front of the courthouse faces south and slightly west, onto E Methvin Street
The view from the courthouse steps, towards E Methvin Street
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Looming: a mirage in which objects below the horizon seem to be raised above their true positions. The 1982 courthouse addition truly meets the definition of "looming."
The1982 courthouse addition is on the west side of the historic courthouse
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The Courts & Records building, 1958, on the east side of the historic courthouse. Smith, Warder & Yost, Architects