Gregg Co., TX - History - Kilgore, TX *********************************************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: East Texas Genealogical Society P. O. Box 6967, Tyler, TX 75711 Typed by Betty Sue Darby Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm *********************************************** Kilgore, TX - Gregg County, TX East Texas Family Records - Vol. 14, No. 3, Fall 1990 Submitted with the permission of the East Texas Genealogical Society, P O Box 6967, Tyler, TX 75711 ***************************************************************** KILGORE, TEXAS Kilgore, in south central Gregg County near the Rusk County line and near the geographical center of the East Texas Oil Field is known as the "Oil City of the World," because it has 1,134 producing wells within the city limits. The vicinity was settled by plantation owners previous to the Civil War, but the town itself was founded on the Missouri- Pacific Railroad in 1872, named for Constantine Buckley Kilgore. In 1880 Kilgore was a good trading point with a population of 248; in 1930 the population was 590. Oil was discovered in 1930; and on February 20, 1931, the city was incorporated, with J. Malcolm Crim as mayorThe city operates on a cash basis. Kilgore has a community building, a library, a daily news- paper, and many civic and religious organizations. It is the operation headquarters for the East Texas Salt Water Disposal Company, the major office for the Oil and Gas Division of the Railroad Commission,and headquarters for various branches of the petroleum industry. Population increased from 6,708 in 1940 to 9,693 in 1950.