Private schools operated by “refined and genteel young ladies” provided the early formal education for Longview residents until after the turn of the century.
At 103 years old, Troop 201 is one of the two oldest Boy Scout troops — if not the oldest — in the state. Its Scout Hut, as the cabin at Teague Park is known, has been in existence for nearly 80 years and serves a boys’ troop, a girls’ troop and a co-ed high-adventure troop.
<p>The First Christian Church traces its history to a rented school house, the private property of Mrs. V.A. Leake, on North Green Street.</p>
From McWilliams to Heritage, the downtown building being renovated to provide apartments and commercial space reflects much of modern Longview history.
The origin of Trinity Episcopal Church can be traced, along with other Longview institutions, to an incident during the days of the railroad boom. It was in 1871 that the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, bishop of the Diocese of Texas, baptized the first child of Episcopal faith in Longview.
The First Presbyterian Church of Longview was organized in 1873, the year Gregg County was organized and a plot of land at the corner of Center and Methvin streets was donated by the Texas and Pacific Railroad on Nov. 17, 1873.
The Baptist Church of Longview was formed in 1871 in the home of one of the charter members.
<p>In 1845, the old Methodist church in this community was a log building called the “Meeting House.” This first church structure was used by other Protestant denominations, school was taught there and community meetings were held under its rustic beams.</p>
In Longview, the railway that gave birth to a town also gave an important boost to one of the most important pillars in the city’s history — the churches that formed in the town’s early years and continue to call downtown home.
Late 1800s-era public schools in Gregg County were administered by the county through “common” school districts consisting at first of the four county precincts.