Longview, Texas: The Balloon Race Capital of Texas

The Great Texas Balloon Race started in 1978 when a hot air balloon was flown over Longview to promote the opening of the local mall. Since then, it’s become an annual event. In 1985, then Governor Mark White dubbed Longview The Balloon Capital of Texas. As you walk around town, you see balloons like this decorated by various businesses.

But that’s not all that Longview is about. It’s a city in East Texas that was founded in 1870. In an effort to lure the railroad to build close to land that he owned, O.H. Methvin sold 100 acres of land to the Southern Pacific Railroad for one dollar (that sounds like a deal from Trading Places). It was then rumored that when the railroad officials came to survey the land, they were standing on Mr. Methvin’s front porch and uttered the words, “What a long view!”

And so, in 1871, the city of Longview was incorporated. In 1874, it became the county seat of Gregg County, which was named for John Gregg, a confederate general who was killed in action during the Civil War.

The Southern Pacific Railroad did extend the tracks from Marshall but due to financial difficulties, further development was delayed, and Longview was the end of the line for a while. People from throughout East Texas would go to Longview and it quickly became a busy place for trading goods.

Eventually, other railroad lines went through Longview and the area became known as Longview Junction. There were two depots and a horse and buggy service that would transport passengers and their baggage from one depot to the other when passengers had to change trains. This is the Longview Depot which was built in 1939 replacing the station that was built in 1874. Amtrak still has passenger service through Longview.

The first county courthouse was a small temporary building that was on the corner of Fredonia and Tyler Streets.  It later moved to the second floor of W. G. Northcutt Hardware and Furniture store. In 1877, a fire destroyed most of the buildings in the commercial center of town and they were replaced by brick buildings. The Hardware store survived but a real courthouse was needed.

 In 1879, this courthouse was built. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long to determine that there were structural issues with the building. By 1896, it was condemned.

In 1897, this new courthouse was erected on the square. In 1930, when oil was discovered in East Texas, it quickly became obvious that a new courthouse and jail with more space was required.

This courthouse was built directly behind the previous one so as not to disrupt the business of government. As the old courthouse is no longer there, I assume it was demolished upon completion of this new one. It's too bad they couldn't keep it as a museum.

Speaking of museums, this is the Everett building which houses the Gregg County Historical Museum. The building was erected in 1910 to house the Citizens National Bank. Other tenants include Commercial Guaranty State Bank of Longview, Rembert National Bank, American Red Cross and Lanier Clothier. Between 1960 and 1979, the building sat vacant. In 1979, the building was donated to the Gregg County Historical Foundation who then opened the museum.

 

Inside, they still have the bank vault which houses an exhibit describing the bank robbery of the First National Bank by Bill Dalton of the famed Dalton Gang. The event took place in 1894 when a member of the gang presented a note to the teller of the First National Bank. A gunfight broke out and one of the gang members was killed as was a local citizen.

Bill Dalton and the other gang members escaped to Oklahoma only to be hunted by a Sheriff's posse. Bill Dalton was killed. As part of the exhibit, there was this photo of his body. I always thought that a little weird that the dead bodies of these outlaws were photographed and put on display. I guess it was to prove that they'd been killed. Bill Dalton's body sat in the back of a wagon for two hours in the sun, being splashed with cool water as it was taken back to town for an autopsy. The body, as you can see, did not fare well in the sun. But that was the end of the Dalton Gang.

Outside the bank/museum is this lovely clock. It's McCarley's clock and it's over 100 years old. It once stood outside McCarley's jewelry store across the street. The clock was donated to the museum.

The jewelry store was housed in this building. McCarley's was established in 1920 by R.S. McCarley. They sold everything from jewelry to China to silver. Young girls would go there to register their China patterns. In 1933, RS married and when he retired in 1960, his stepson, HC purchased the business. When his HC retired 25 years later, his son, Clint took over. Clint died unexpectedly in 2006 and then HC died four years later. The two remaining sons took over the business. But with no heirs to take over, they made the sad decision in 2016 to close the store. 

One thing about Longview that I thought was kind of cool was Heritage Plaza. It's a square not far from the County Courthouse and it has this sign where John gets to be the "I". 

But it also has a series of brick walls where each side has two plaques per side, 20 in all, that basically tell the history of Longview by decade. That was very well done. 

This is the Franklin Lucilius Whaley House. Frank was one of the original settlers in 1871, which is when the house was built. He was a hardware merchant and also served as the mayor of Longview. The rumor is that this was the fourth house built in Longview and is the oldest standing structure in Longview today. The Whaley family lived in this house until 1979. It was purchased for use as a law firm and continues to be so today.

During World War II, the government built a hospital here for the veterans that also doubled as a prison for German prisoners. It was closed after the war and remained empty until Robert LeTourneau bought it and turned into a Technical Institute to train veterans for jobs. That became LeTourneau University.

We were only there one day. It seemed like there were two Longviews. One was the more modern section of town that had your standard chain restaurants like Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, etc., hotel chains, and strip malls. On this side of town is where the history lives. The Historical Society did a good job documenting the history of town but the museum itself was a little "cluttered".  If they had the space, they could have spread things out a little.

Having said that, it's still definitely worth a visit and it's only $5 a person. Longview also had a Fine Arts Museum that had free admission. We didn't go in as there was a lot of construction going on. 

There are about 80k people in this town. It doesn't feel that big. The major employers are Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center, Eastman Chemical, Longview Regional Medical Center and Dollar General. As I mentioned, they have a mall with all the major fast food and restaurant chains. The big grocery stores like Kroger and Walmart are there as well. 

Longview has some good local hole in the wall places as well. We went to a place called Little Mexico for dinner. We got there a little before 5 on a Wednesday and the place was packed. The food was delicious!

It was a nice place to visit but I don't think I could live there.

Marshall, Texas: The Culture Capital of East Texas

In our travels through East Texas, we stopped in Marshall. Why you ask? Because it’s the culture capital of East Texas! Did you know Marshall was the birthplace of Boogie Woogie? I had no idea.

Harrison County was established in 1839. There was some discussion about where the county seat would be. In 1841, Peter Whetstone offered some of his land for a courthouse, a church and school. The offer was accepted, and Marshall was born. It was named for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.

Harrison County has had five courthouses. The first is the standard log building. The second was built around 1849 and was most likely built with slave labor. By 1889, they'd outgrown that courthouse so they built another.

Unfortunately, this beautiful courthouse burned in 1899. Luckily the court records were saved. In 1901, the fourth courthouse was built.

This courthouse still stands in the center of the town square. In 1964, another courthouse was built off the square but the voters opted to keep this courthouse and I'm glad they did. They still have offices here on the third floor so it remains the seat of government, though most of the action takes place across the street.

The first and second floors of this courthouse make up the Harrison County Historical Museum. This is a view from the top of the stairs of the second floor. It's a beautiful courthouse. The Museum is very well done and it's free.

Marshall was the first town in Texas to have a telegraph. In 1854, the local paper had a telegraph link to New Orleans which gave them the scoop on the latest National News. This is Telegraph Park and it's on the square to the left of the courthouse.

Built in 1915 and originally called the Marshall Federal Building and US Post Office, this building was renamed in 1994 for Sam B. Hall, Jr who was a district judge and state representative.

Up until 1910, Marshall had a volunteer fire department. In 1926, they built the Central Fire Station, called "Old Central". On the courthouse square, it's now the Old Central Office Building.

This is the Grand Marshall. It used to be a hotel. Built around 1930 by Sam Perkins, part of it caught fire in 1949. It wasn't until 1956 that a renovation took place. Unfortunately, the renovation was poorly done and the hotel mismanaged forcing it to close. It is now part of the East Texas Baptist University.

This is a bit of a heart breaker. Until December 9, 2024, this was the First Methodist Church. It was built in 1861 most likely by slave labor. During the Civil War, the basement of this church was used to store supplies for the Confederacy. 

On the morning of December 9, 2024, the church caught fire and this is what is left.

By 1860, Marshall was one of the wealthiest towns in East Texas. There were tons of cotton plantations and, as a result, a lot of enslaved people, the most in the whole state of Texas. After the war, Marshall was the location of a Freedman's Bureau and in 1873, Wiley College was founded.

It's a beautiful campus. In 1882, it was certified by the the Freedman's Aid Society and is one of the oldest predominantly Black colleges west of the Mississippi. It's named for Isaac Wiley who was the Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church that founded the school.

In 1907, the school was granted $15,000 by the Carnegie Foundation for a library. In 1967, a more modern library was erected and this building became an administration building. It's one of the few Carnegie Library buildings left in the state.

Marshall, originally located on several stagecoach lines, was considered the Gateway to Texas. In the 1870's, the citizens voted for a $300,000 bond subsidy and the city of Marshall donated land to the Texas and Pacific Railway if they would establish a center in Marshall. And they did. This is the Marshall Depot. It was built in 1912 and is the only building left of the 75 building shop complex the Texas and Pacific had in Marshall at one time. 

The shops they had included the head house that was the entryway to this tunnel that is used to get to the passenger station from the parking lot, a car shop where they built all types of train cars, the paint shop, the freight depot and the coach shop. The last T&P passenger train ran in 1970 and the shops closed in 1971. The Amtrak train started passenger service again in 1974. That service is still available today.

The Union Pacific Caboose on display. I read that the caboose was where the train personnel did their thing. The conductor did his paperwork here and the brakeman would come in here to rest.

This stove (currently at the Harrison County Historical Museum) was located in the caboose and this is where the train employees would cook their dinner or use it to keep warm. You forget that they were on the train, just like the passengers and they needed to eat too!

This is the Ginocchio Hotel and Restaurant. It was built in 1896 and it is located right outside the tunnel where passengers would disembark. It offered stores, a restaurant and a 40 room hotel. It closed in 1967 when the Pedison brothers, who managed the hotel, retired. In 2017, it was renovated and the restaurant opened back up. I wish I'd realized that as we'd have eaten there.

On the second floor of the railroad museum is the Boogie Woogie exhibit. So this is some rockin' piano music that originated here in Marshall (according to the museum). The Texas and Pacific Railroad had their headquarters here and there were several African Americans that worked for the railroad in the 1870's. "The workers would entertain themselves with a piano in "barrel houses". Not trained in classic piano, the workers began to play the piano almost like a drum...leading to the 8-beats-to-the-bar rhythm.". There was an older fella there at the museum that asked if we remembered boogie-woogie. The guy at the desk was like, "That's from the 1800's! None of us remember it!". It was kind of funny. In his defense, he was probably thinking of the more recent contributors, like Huddie "Ledbelly" Ledbetter. 

Marshall had a very large Jewish community. This is the Hochwald House. Isaac Hochwald has a connection to my favorite city, Galveston. When his mother died, his father put him in the Children's Home. When Ike was 11, he was "discharged" to Lionel Kahn in Marshall Tx. Lion and his brother, Emanuel, were bachelors and they ran a store called Great Railway Supply Store. Eventually, they put Ike to work. By the time he was 25, he'd married and become quite successful in the store. He built this house in 1895 and was involved in the Jewish community. Isaac died in 1956. 

The Weisman-Hirsch House sits on land that was part of the 1836 land grant from the Republic of Texas to Peter Whetstone. Joe Weisman was from Syracuse, NY but came to Marshall in 1866. In 1878, he opened his own department store. This land was purchased by Abraham Young and sold to Joe when he married Abraham's daughter, Lena. Their first house was destroyed by fire. This house was erected in 1901. It remained in the Weisman Hirsch family until 1972.

Another significant family in Marshall was the Starr family. James Harper Starr owned a land management company. They basically bought and sold land. They also helped the railroad company get the land they needed to expand. This is the Starr Family Home Historic Site. It's $5 a person to go in and it's run by the Texas Historical Commission. Definitely worth a visit. The house was built in 1870 by James Franklin Starr, the son of James Harper Starr. They had six daughters and chose to "home-school" them by hiring a teacher that lived onsite. In addition to her salary, she got room, board and laundry.

The Starr family lived in the house until the 1980s, so over 100 years. They updated it to a certain extent. We asked about AC and the answer was window units. The house was donated to the Texas Historical Commission in the mid-1980s. Shortly after, the did a big renovation where they (1) installed central heat and air and (2) they restored the house back to its 1870s appearance, removing updated kitchen and bathroom items. For an in depth look at the Starr Family Home Historic Site click here.

Just as the house was completed, Clara's (Frank's wife) step-father passed away. They invited her mother to live with them and she built her own wing onto the house. She had her own separate entrance, a small foyer, this suite and her own bathroom. It's a pretty nice space.

A few other cool things in Marshall, Texas. This is the Elks Lodge. It was built in 1912 and served the local lodge until the 1970s. It was abandoned and eventually sold and since been restored. I thought I saw that it was a rentable space.

There are five museums in Marshall, Texas. The Harrison County Historical Museum, the Texas Pacific Railroad Museum, The Starr Family Home Historic Site, The Memorial City Hall and this one, the Michelson Art Museum. This museum is free and was originally built to house art done by Leo Michelson.

They have two galleries in the museum. One was a painting exhibit where they had this beauty. It's by Leo Michelson and its called "Zinnias".

Then they had a photography exhibit. This one is called Mill Pond, Caddo Lake Texas by David H. Gibson. I liked this photo quite a bit. We googled Mill Pond and found we weren't that far so we went.

Caddo Lake State Park is in Karnack, Texas (Birthplace of Lady Bird Johnson!). It's quite beautiful out here. Very peaceful and I imagine that if we'd been here in the spring, it would be quite green. 

I liked Marshall. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express off I-20. We were at the very end of a dead end road. They had all your basic fast food chains. There were some restaurant chains like Applebee's, Chili's and Golden Corral. Most of the restaurants were local or regional chains. We ate at a place called McGarity's Restaurant and Saloon. It was in the lobby of a Clarion Pointe Hotel (which is part of the Choice Hotel chain). It was very odd to go to that hotel looking for a restaurant. The food was okay, depending on what you got. I got fish and chips that were great. John got corned beef and cabbage that was not. Still, it was a different experience.

They had a lot of good looking Mexican Restaurants that I would have liked to try, Jose Tequila's, The Jalepeno Tree to name a couple.

There was a Kroger and a WalMart plus all of the dollar store options (Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Dollar General).

There are 23K people in Marshall and it's the largest city in Harrison County. The major employers are Blue Cross, Blue Shield; Christus Good Shepard Medical Center; Eastman Chemical Company.

While I find the town fascinating, I'm not sure that I could live there. The vibe is very slow and it feels very small town. I like all the history and the museums and I would love to explore the town further but I think it's a tad too small of a town for my taste. Having said that, I find it's definitely worth a visit, especially if you're into history.

The moniker of Cultural Capital of East Texas is appropriate. There were all kinds of people here, especially after the Civil War. Everyone brought their own heritage and it's all on display in Marshall.

McKinney, Texas: Unique by Nature

Have you been to McKinney?  I’d always heard that I needed to visit their historic downtown. Oddly enough, my hairdresser had her shop in downtown McKinney so I would go there twice a year and yet I never stopped and looked around. So when it was time for another field trip, I picked McKinney. Here’s what I learned.

McKinney was founded in 1846 on land donated by William Davis. It wasn’t the first county seat for Collin County. That honor belonged to a small town called Buckner which was about three miles away. In 1848, a vote was taken to move the county seat to McKinney and the motion passed.

The first store was the Lovejoy grocery, which moved from Buckner to McKinney. The “shack” that was the store was physically moved to McKinney by its owner John Lemuel Lovejoy. He was the first settler and bought several other lots in McKinney. As a reverend, he also started the First Methodist Church. He eventually sold his land and moved to Denton.

There have been four courthouses in McKinney starting with a rough pine lumber building that was built in 1848. The second courthouse was built in 1856. It was replaced in 1874 with this courthouse and was the tallest building north of San Antonio.  

In 1927, extensive exterior and interior renovations to this courthouse included the removal of the mansard roof and tower caps, as well as the addition of a third story and basement. Overseen by W.A. Peters of the Paris, Texas Architectural firm of Sparger and Peters, the work resulted in a classical revival edifice. Original features included tripartite windows with flanking double classical columns on the north and south facades. The new structure was commonly known as the Temple of Justice, and continued to be the center of activity for city and county functions. It remained in service as a courthouse until 1979. Now it's the McKinney Performing Arts Center.

Inside the courthouse basements, there are remnants of old Jim Crow. There are signs for the bathrooms that distinguish between White and Colored. The signs have been preserved so that we won’t forget.

Dr. Benjamin M.E. Smith, one of the city's first doctors, founded Smith Drug Co. around 1859 with his sons and partners.  Smith Drug moved to the square when the Jesse Shain building was constructed about 1900. It was the longest operating business and the state’s oldest pharmacy until it closed in 2008.

In 1864 John Heard moved to McKinney from Arkansas. With his brother, he started the JS and SD Heard Mercantile Company on the first floor of this building. On the second floor was the Heard Opera House until a fire destroyed it in 1910. Now it's a winery.

Heard also had a hand in starting the Interurban railway, a passenger service that ran from Denison to Dallas and on to Waco. He was instrumental in bringing the first flour mill to McKinney as well as an oil mill. This is all that's left of that rail line in McKinney. 

In 1911, the McKinney Post Office was built. It served as a government building until 1959 when it was sold to Collin County. In 1982, it became the Collin County History Museum. It’s free and open to the public Thursday through Saturday from 10 – 4. It had all kinds of artifacts related to the history of the city and the county. It's well worth a visit.

Just off the square on Kentucky street, you can find the Old Collin County Jail. Completed in 1880, the two-story building contained the jailer’s quarters at the front of the building while the mid-portion of the building contained the cellblocks. In 1900, new detention cells were added while the other cells were restored. A dungeon-like cell with a trap door was added in order carry out executions. At one time, the prison could house 50 prisoners.

The last man to be executed here was Ezell Stepp in 1922. He was hanged for the murder of Hardy Mills. Apparently, Hardy Mills went missing one morning on the way to work and he was found two weeks later, bound by wire, attached to a rail and dumped in a well on a local neighbor's farm. Ezell was convicted based on testimony by his nephew.  Was it because Hardy found out about Ezell's moonshining business? or because Ezell was having an affair with Hardy's wife and he became angry when it was discovered? We'll never know. Ezell proclaimed his innocence to the end.

The prison was closed in 1979 due to an increase in the county’s population and prison reforms that the building didn’t meet. Today, it houses offices for various businesses. Can you imagine working there today?

All of these buildings have some kind of history. The building in the middle of this photo is the Lovejoy Building. Built in 1926, it was home to J. C. Penney until they moved across the square. Then the K. Wolens store moved in.

This is the Pope-Silver Brothers building. This 1929 Art Deco building originally housed the Silver Brothers Dry Goods. In the 1940's, J. C. Penney moved to this building from across the square. It also housed Gambel's Drug Store where all the kids would hang out and drink milkshakes. 

I love the design across the top.

This is the First National Bank Building. Entrepreneur Francis Emerson (1815-1905) founded a McKinney Banking firm in 1869 which became the First National bank in 1882. First National bought this site in 1912 and built this classical Revival Style Building. Collin County National Bank, founded in 1883, occupied the building from 1935 to 1958 when they merged with First National Bank. They eventually merged with Texas American Bank and moved to 222 N Tennessee St. 

First Savings and Loan Association officed here from 1958 to 1973. Now it's a clothing shop.

This is the Central Continental Bank Building. The interior of the building was remodeled in the 1930s and much of the original fabric still exists. The building is the only downtown building with a full basement that is accessible from the street. The Central Continental Bank remained in this location from 1918 until 1963 when they moved to a new building at 221 N. Tennessee. The building has been a home to a variety of retail establishments in the basement and on the first floor while the second floor has provided office space for several businesses.

The McKinney Flour Mill was built in 1872 and processed most of the grain from the area. The coming of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad stimulated the grow the of the mill as well as the town. Now this place is an event venue.

That's just a small taste of McKinney. We were only there for a couple of hours so we didn't get a chance to drive around and look at all the historic houses (there are tons!) or the Chestnut Square Historic Village but I will!

McKinney's slogan is "Unique by Nature" which refers to its natural beauty, it's historic downtown and its sense of community. I'd say that about sums it up. If you have the chance to check it out, you should.