Editing Gregg County, Texas (section)

== History ==
{{See also|Caddo|History of Kilgore, Texas|}}
{{More citations needed section |date=February 2024}}
This area was among early sections settled by United States immigrants before Texas became an independent republic, and after 1845, a state of the United States. It was an area developed as cotton [[plantations in the American South|plantations]] dependent on [[Slavery in the United States|slave labor]] of African Americans. Lumbering of the pine forests was also pursued, especially in the early years of clearing the land for cultivation.

Gregg County was organized in 1873 after the [[American Civil War]] from portions of existing counties. When the Texas State Legislature convened in January 1873, Democratic representative B. W. Brown of [[Upshur County, Texas|Upshur County]] introduced a bill to create a new county from parts of [[Harrison County, Texas|Harrison]], [[Rusk County, Texas|Rusk]], and Upshur Counties. He was likely trying to break up the black majority that dominated county politics in Harrison County. Under Brown's proposal, the county was to be named Roanoke, and Longview was to be the county seat. The proposed name was later changed to honor Texas leader and [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] General John Gregg, and the county seat was determined by popular election.

Harrison and Rusk Counties resisted efforts to have portions of their territory assigned to Gregg County. When Gregg County was created, it first consisted of about {{convert|143|sqmi|km2}} taken from Upshur County, and the [[Sabine River (Texas–Louisiana)|Sabine River]] was its southern boundary. In April 1874, about {{convert|141|sqmi|km2}} south of the Sabine River in Rusk County was added to Gregg County. The third portion, of about {{convert|145|sqmi|km2}} to be taken from Harrison County, was never realized. Many of its voters continued to elect Republicans to county offices.

By 1919, the county population was 16,700, of whom 8,160, or 48%, were Black. Most were sharecroppers or tenant farmers raising cotton as a commodity crop. Members of the Negro Business League set up a cooperative store in Longview to compete with White merchants and offer African-American residents more choices for purchases. Beginning July 10, the town had a short-lived [[Longview Race Riot]], in which one Black man was killed, and several Black-owned homes and properties were burned. It was quelled when the sheriff asked for [[Texas National Guard]] and other law enforcement. They established a curfew and military occupation.<ref name="tuttle">{{cite journal |last=Tuttle|first= William M. Jr.|author-link=William M. Tuttle Jr.|date= 1972|title=Violence in a "Heathen" Land: The Longview Race Riot of 1919|journal= [[Phylon]] |volume= 33|issue=4 |pages=324–333|publisher= [[Clark Atlanta University]]|issn=0031-8906|jstor=273678|doi=10.2307/273678}}{{subscription required|via JSTOR}}</ref><ref name="texasranger.org">{{Cite web| title=THE LONGVIEW RACE RIOT OF 1919| author=Kenneth R. Durham Jr.| work=East Texas Historical Journal| volume=XVIII, Number 2| url=http://www.texasranger.org/E-Books/Longview_Race_Riot.pdf| year=1980| access-date=February 23, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517030107/http://www.texasranger.org/E-Books/Longview_Race_Riot.pdf| archive-date=May 17, 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Agricultural work declined during the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s, and many African Americans continued to leave in the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] north to find other work.

In October 1930, oil was discovered near Joinerville, between [[Henderson, Texas]] (Rusk County) and Kilgore (mostly in southwest Gregg County). And shortly after, oil was discovered within Gregg County, near Pine Tree/East Mountain (Lathrop No 1). Suddenly, the county economy was booming, and the [[East Texas Oil Field]] attracted so many workers that county population increased by more than 500% by 1940. Growth stabilized, but oil has continued to be important. County demographics changed as other workers were attracted to the area. In the early 21st century, slightly less than 20% of the population is African American.