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Kilgore
Historical
Preservation
Foundation
Historical
Preservation
Foundation
Main Street Organization meeting with City of Kilgore under Mayor Mickey Smith. Jack Elder, nudged by whisper from Winter, his wife, suggested the derricks of Kilgore needed to be restored. 1987 Mayor Smith, as part of new Main Street Program, led efforts to organize and charter Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation with 3 original incorporating board members: Mayor Smith, Rob Schelier, Ronnie Spradlin. First steel derrick restored in February by Kilgore First National Bank with a celebration that included Red Adair. Main Street Resource Team visited Kilgore and suggested the reconstruction of 50 derricks would restore the historical Kilgore skyline. The City Commission, led by Mayor Smith, committed to restore 2 derricks, and the derrick restoration project was underway. Christmas lights were added to restored derricks. Merry Christmas banner was added by co-sponsors KIBA & KHPF 1988 Received National Trust for Historic Preservation Planning Grant for Crim and Texan Theater restoration First sites acquired on World's Richest Acre and three derricks were restored, in the block with the original derrick on that site which was owned by Kilgore Improvement and Beautification Association. 1989 Five Derricks were dedicated at the World's Richest Acre Crim Benefit "Strike It Rich" KHPF won the Anice Read Award for creative historic preservation Crim/Texan planning study completed by Killis Almond, architect, and team from the League of Historic American Theatres 1990 Crim/Texan roofs replaced World's Richest Acre Park created and design approved "Hooray for Hollywood" benefit 1991 Texas A&M University architectural students complete master plan for Crim/Texan Theaters Crim/Texan Gala held George Peppard benefit reception held 1992 Two additional derricks dedicated at World's Richest Acre Park Shoji Tabuchi benefit concert held Counselor's Quartet fund raiser held "Happy New Year" banner added to World's Richest Acre Christmas Lighting First "Christmas in the Patch" celebration with Derrick Lighting filmed by CNN 1993 Chamber of Commerce held a benefit golf tournament for KHPF Gary P. Nunn, "From Austin City Limits to Kilgore City Limits," fund raiser Dino Kartsonakis fund raising concert World's Richest Acre Park bricks and pavers go on sale Crim/Texan environmental study completed Crim/Texan clean-out accomplished 10' scale miniature derricks on downtown street corners initiated - a realization of Mickey Smith's statement "I wish we had a derrick on every corner" and A. P. Merritt's inspiration from a line of Christmas trees at the Galleria in Houston City designates portion of hotel/motel tax to theater restoration project 1994 Union Pacific Railroad donates use of downtown Commerce Street right-of-way executing long-term lease with KHPF for derrick restoration Restrooms constructed on right-of-way Dino Kartsonakis encore fund raiser Blackwood Quartet fund raising event Crim Theater 55th Birthday Party - Public invited. Meadowbrook Addition designated an official historic neighborhood 1995 Five additional derricks dedicated "Always Patsy Cline" benefit performance Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra benefit concert Meadowbrook Addition historic marker signs initiated with over 40 homes Construction begins on WRA Park 1996 Crim exterior renovation to rear of building completed Crim Theater neon and upper façade completed Four derricks dedicated on 66th anniversary day of Daisy Bradford discovery well "Always Patsy Cline" return performance Crim/Texan exteriors painted Stage, pumpjack, pavers and bricks installed at World's Richest Acre Park 1997 - KHPF 10th Year Tenth Anniversary Celebration of KHPF Ten derricks dedicated - a total of 37 new derricks constructed Doug Supernaw benefit concert "Holiday Happenings in Historic Homes" tour initiated in Meadowbrook Addition: Boswell-Linn, The Nanny's House, Noyes-DeSantis, McMurrey. 1998 Amoco sign added to right-of-way Additional derricks reconstructed Holiday Happenings in Historic Homes: Anding-Almand- Leath, Brown-Russell-Renshaw, Goldman- McCubbin, Lucas- Crisman-Jones. 1999 US Postal Service removed & restored the Murals prior to moving to new facility KHPF worked with USPS to locate murals at the East Texas Oil Museum temporarily Worked with City of Kilgore to acquire original Post Office building Acquired long-term lease of Post Office for future city museum, anchoring south end of historic downtown corridor Began restoration of Post Office by getting building in the dry Additional derricks constructed. Holiday Happenings in Historic Homes: Almand-Witt, Herndon Gertz-Spinks, Landrum-Holland, Hold-Merritt Potato Barn. 2000 Descendents of W. N. and Eudora Crim donated the Dean- Keener-Crim (DKC) Home and land, anchoring north end of historic downtown corridor. Featured on holiday home tour. Texan Theater restoration plan developed Christmas Tree Park planned for lot across from DKC home Additional derricks constructed Holiday Happenings in Historic Homes: Bean-Sadler-Simmons, Collins-Griffin, Frank Brown-Miller, Ballard- Steph. 2001 Two derricks, "Christmas trees" and historic oilfield equipment installed in first stage of Christmas Tree Park Historic oil company sign installed in first stage of development of oilfield equipment display along Commerce St. downtown railroad right-of-way DKC home restoration begun with leveling, and plumbing and wiring repairs Trees planted at DKC home site by KIBA, make a difference day Six derricks dedicated. Sounds of Swing fundraiser featuring Tara Watson, Miss Texas. Heritage Holiday in Historic Homes: Crim-Kubiak, Dean- Keener-Crim, Weinberg-Day, Wills-Long 2002 Texan repairs begun "Echoes From Forgotten Streets" published Post Office restoration fund established, funded by book sales Privacy fence installed at Christmas Tree Park through Purchasea Picket fundraising solicitation Additional derricks constructed Trail of Lights kick-off Lighting Ceremony, under Crim Theater Marquee with fireworks show Community Christmas tree installed at Heritage Square in Kilgore Street between Texan Theater and Old Post Office building which was used as Trail of Lights Marketplace. Heritage Holiday in Historic Home: Brown-Adamson-Woodfin, Dean-Keener-Crim, Elder-Laird, Edmonds- Brian. 2003 Preservation study & master plan for restoration/development of DKC home completed TX Historic Commission grant Six derricks dedicated Swing with the Red, White & Blue Fund raiser featuring "Sounds of Swing" Trail of Lights kick-off Lighting Ceremony, under Crim Theater Marquee with Laser show Old Post Office building used as Trail of Lights Marketplace. Heritage Holiday in Historic Homes: Masters-Crowley, McWilliams-Crouse, Bass-Cox, Wickham-Colley. Release of "Echoes from Forgotten Streets" by Terry Stembridge & Caleb Pirtle 2004 Texan Theater exterior renovations completed Pipe fence finished, Christmas Tree Park Dedication of Lufkin Pumping Unit and Christmas Tree Park held Additional derricks constructed Trail of Lights kick-off Lighting Ceremony, Post Office Interior (rain). Snowhill adjacent to World's Richest Acre Park. Heritage Holiday in Historic Homes: Meadowbrook Country Club, Stanley-Renshaw, Reynolds-Rosen, Leath- Stanton. 2005 Entrance sign added, Christmas Tree Park National Preservation Month activities. Dr. Archie McDonald's "History of Texas Through Music" Participation in 75th Anniversary of East Texas Oilfield discovery Additional derricks constructed, exceeding original goal of 50 derricks to restore the historic skyline. Derrick dedicated for Mickey Smith Completion of environment study and painting of DKC home New Merry Christmas banner purchased and installed. Trail of Lights kick-off Lighting Ceremony, World's Richest Acre, "Celebration." Snowhill adjacent to World's Richest Acre Park. Heritage Holiday in Historic Homes tour: Devonne Godfrey Petty, Thrash-Langley, Head- Bolton, Dickson L. Griffin 2006 Arbor Day kick-off for DKC home 130th Birthday year National Preservation Month Activities Vintage Fashion Benefit, DKC Home Dr. Archie McDonald's -- "History of WWII through Music" Jazz Under the Derricks Dean-Keener-Crim House new picket fence installed Trail of Lights kick-off Lighting Ceremony, World's Richest Acre. "A Star Spangled Celebration." SnowMountain adjacent to World's Richest Acre Park Heritage Holiday in Historic Homes tour: Reinhart-Walker, Morton-Dupre, Jenkins-Beane, Potter Patton 2007 - KHPF 20th Year Main Street Kilgore commences (encore!) National Preservation Month Activities DKC survey completed KHPF Website brought online Happy New Year sign re-framed Derrick Ornament designed and sold along with framed copies of Devall Christmas Scene card Holiday Happenings in Historic Home Tour: Almand-Zwick, Laird-Kulak, Routon-Day, Holt-BryanJohnston Dean-Keener-Crim House tour with Maude Laird Middle School Junior Historians as docents Dean-Keener-Crim House Public Tours Committee Sale of t-shirts with WRA photo on front Jazz Under the Derricks Picnic in the WRA Park Environmental study update Crim/Texan Theaters Publication of Vol. II- Kilgore History Release of "Visions from Forgotten Streets" by Terry Stembridge & Caleb Pirtle 2008 BOOM! a musical history about us written by Dr. Lottie Lipscomb Guttry, directed by Elizabeth Hedges March 7,8 at KHS Auditorium CRAZY ‘BOUT PATSY Dodson Auditorium May 6 -7:30 pm With Sherrill Douglas of Sweet Dreams Productions Benefit performance to "Keep the Stars Shining" Preservation Month Activities: Jazz in the Park with Jazz Professors Free concert in park Budddy and Beyond The Johnny Rogers Show benefit concert Dodson Auditorium Shake, Rattle, and Roll WRA Park free concert Re-work of Derrick Stars after storm of September KHPF Winner of Texas Downtown Association Best Downtown Partner Award 2008 Temple, Texas Christmas in the Patch Lighting Ceremony "Tis the Season directed by Deana Covin Holiday Happenings in Historic Homes Stroope - Thrower House Palmer - McCarty - Crews House Walkup - Simpson House Kilgore Public Library Interpretive Plaques set in World's Richest Acre Park Completed Handicapped sidewalk to KIBA gate on back side of replicas Crim was re-roofed by the City Book Signing of "Visions" in December with the authors, Terry Stembridge and Caleb Pirtle Renovation of Old Post Office began with all interior and exterior windows refurbishment and painting of Postmaster's Office and Lobby Participated with Main Street with advertising in brochure for travel centers. Contract with I20 Access on derricks. Completed installation of pad and lighting for Roosth derrick 2009 Gateway Interstate 20 Hwy 42 Derrick donated by Roosth Foundation |
The Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation was chartered in January 1987 by
organizing board members Mayor Mickey Smith, City Commissioner Rob Schleier and at-large
member Ronnie Spradlin.
Soon thereafter Carolyn Fox-Hearne and Bob Florence joined the board, as well as Kilgore
Chamber of Commerce executive director Jimmy Dike.
KHPF has been fortunate to include as officers, directors and members, many outstanding
community leaders throughout the years. The goal throughout the years has always remained
constant - to preserve, promote and protect the unique heritage of Kilgore, Texas.
History
P O BOX 885, KILGORE, TEXAS 75662
Started by a whisper...
by Rachel Stallard The present site of Kilgore fell into a wild “no man’s land” in the early 1800s — a haven for outlaws and scoundrels. But by 1840, farm families were settling the area called Danville. They had a trading post, stores, saloons, churches, cotton gins, ribbon cane mills, sawmills and corn mills. However, they did not have a railroad — and they never would, according to authors Caleb Pirtle III and Terry Stembridge in their award-winning historical book, “Echoes from Forgotten Streets: Memories of Kilgore, Texas.” Pirtle wrote of two Danville men, Rayburn Hamilton and his son-in- law Slade Barnett, who denied railroad magnate Jay Gould access to their land. Justice of the Peace and land owner Constantine Buckley “Buck” Kilgore saw this as his chance to establish a township. Kilgore donated a 200-feet right-of- way to the International and Great Northern Railroad in October 1871. In June of 1872, he sold Gould the 174-acre town site for $2,800 in gold dollars. As the railroad surveyors came through, they expressed concern about a mule barn in the middle of the property. Gould advised the crew to lay track beside it and call it the depot. The 18-block town site was centered around this stop. Kilgore, the visionary, took the first plot of land and built his home near the tracks. Other families soon followed. In 1873, a post office was formed and Virgil Kilgore had a postmaster job making $1 a month, according to Pirtle. Josiah Reynolds, a blacksmith, purchased the first money order sold in Kilgore. In the 1880s churches sprouted up downtown. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and freed slaves all saw benefits of meeting inside a developed town, rather than traveling the unkept roads of the surrounding communities. The first school, the Alexander Institute, was run by the Rev. Isaac Alexander. He had closed the Masonic Female Academy at Gum Springs Presbyterian Church in 1873 and was now charging the new residents of Kilgore to educate their children. While the establishment was well-spoken of, residents decided they would rather all children get a free education. Kilgore Independent School District was formed on August 27, 1906, receiving unanimous approval from the 53 people who voted, Pirtle writes. By 1910, the 25-mile district 25 educated 125 students. Early residents were farmers, but they were also businessmen and politicians. John Thompson ran a sawmill, but he also passed down some of the 10,000 acres he had bought in 1844 to his daughter Lou Della. She would later allow her son Malcolm Crim to drill for oil on that site, ushering in the oil boom of 1930. Ben Laird opened a cotton gin across from the railroad tracks. The Crims owned a large mercantile store. Lucille Elder Russell ran her father’s business, Elder’s Garage, after he died. Kilgore, a former sergeant in the Confederate army, went on to become a U.S. Congressman who fought for the southern state’s rights in an environment still reeling from Reconstruction. The city even enjoyed a bit of entertainment as Liggett Crim bought The Cozy Theater in 1920. It was later called The Dixie and featured the first “talkies.” John Solon King, a World War I veteran, returned to also open a cotton gin, and purchased a telephone company. Pirtle writes that at the turn of the century more than 600 farms were producing about 4,000 bales of cotton a year. Area timber helped with income as farmers cut crossties and sold them to the railroad company. Even with these cash crops, times were especially good when the gardens grew, and peas always seemed to be a bumper crop in the oily soil, according to Pirtle. While the town was prospering, the only time incorporating into a city was discussed came when some concerned citizens wanted to pass an ordinance to slow down the trains coming through town. It turns out they had “flattened two automobiles trying to cross the train tracks,” Pirtle wrote. Kilgore did incorporate in 1931, following the recklessness that had permeated the town with the discovery of oil. Ironically, one of the original prospectors, Malcolm Crim, was elected mayor in a 102-0 vote. He later said he did not take the job to be a politician, but to protect his town from being “overrun with the wrong kind of people.” Crim immediately called in Manuel Trazazas Gonzaullas, a 40-year-old Texas Ranger born in Cadiz, Spain. Friends called him El Lobo Solo. Crim called him, “Lone Wolf” and put him up in Crim’s mother’s house overlooking the north side of the depot. With the discovery of oil, the founding families who had worked the land all of their life realized the real jewel came from beneath it. “The generation of pioneers are gone,” Stembridge said in an exclusive interview. “The boomers are gone. The oil men are gone. There’s a whole town that doesn’t know the specifics of its history.” “(This book) is a gesture against the encroachment of time which is erasing these memories,” he said. The memories are gone, but historical markers remain. The railroad tracks remain. And the town that grew up from the vision of a farmer and activist remain — as does the spirit of a pioneering and prosperous people. |
Longview News Journal, Progress
Edition, February 2008
Edition, February 2008
An Historical Perspective