Longview is not only the oldest town in Gregg County. It is three years older than the county itself. It became a townsite in 1870 and was incorporated in 1871.
Longview’s fourth mayor, Charles Whitney Booth, was one of the directors of the International & Great Northern Railroad’s offices here for 20 years.
Longview’s first mayor, Moses Kaufman Jr., was one of the 17 charter members who founded Masonic Lodge 404 shortly after the city was chartered.
The press has pushed Longview for progress since its first newspaper, the Longview News, a thrice-weekly with type that was handset by future Gov. James Stephen Hogg began circulating in 1871.
Longview was incorporated on May 17, 1871, the first community in Gregg County to do so. Here’s a look at the city’s mayors since that year.
In the first official census in 1880, the city of Longview’s population was 1,525. As of 2018, it’s an estimated 81,424.
Flamboyant but frank. A super salesman who used his talents to sell his city on progress.
Did you know we came that close to being called Roanoke County? It’s true. The 1873 state Legislature — mostly composed of carpetbaggers and pro-Unionists — was all set to name the newly proposed East Texas county “Roanoke.”
Almost a century ago, some folks figured G.A. Bodenheim might as well be appointed mayor of Longview for life.
In 1873, state Rep. Bluford Washington Brown, of Summerfield Community north of Longview, introduced a bill to create a new county from parts of Upshur, Rusk and Harrison counties.