• City Park - Kilgore TX
    After the discovery of oil here in the 1930s, this site was transformed into a makeshift tent city by thousands of people displaced by a deepening national depression. In an effort to control growth, city officials chose this site as the focus of an ambitious public works program in 1934. The park project, which included extensive rock work, was influenced by the planning and foresight of other Federal "New Deal" projects underway in Kilgore at the time (Kilgore Public Library and Kilgore College Administration Building). The park project was finished about 1936.
  • East Texas Oil Museum Murals - Kilgore TX
    The museum contains four murals by Xavier Gonzalez: "Pioneer Saga," "Music of the Plains," "Contemporary Youth" and "Drilling for Oil." They were painted with Treasury Section of Fine Arts funds in 1941 and moved from the post office to the East Texas Oil Museum in 1999.
  • Kilgore College Administration Building - Kilgore TX
    Text From the state historical marker reads: In response to the East Texas oil field boom, yet in the midst of the Great Depression, Kilgore residents voted to support the establishment of a junior college in 1935. Classes were held in the high school until this building was completed in 1936 with financial aid from the Public Works Administration. Designed by the San Antonio firm of Phelps & Dewees, the Kilgore College administration building remains a good example of art moderne architecture. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990
  • Post Office (hormer) - Kilgore TX
    The four works of art — two sprawling paintings and two smaller, companion pieces — will soon be back on display on the walls of what is now the Kilgore History & Arts Center. The post office to be erected in Kilgore will be one of the city's most modern and attractive buildings according to blue prints of the structure which were received by Postmaster Crown Dickson. The building, one story with a basement half above and half below the ground level, will be of buff-colored brick with white stone decorations. The framework will be of reinforced steel. Estimations showed that...
  • Public Library - Kilgore TX
    Text From the state historical marker reads: Kilgore's first public library opened in 1933 under the direction of two local women's clubs. With funding from the Federal Public Works Administration, support from the city, and labor from the Works Progress Administration, this structure was completed in 1939. Designed in a style reminiscent of cottages in the French province of Normandy, it stands as a visible reminder of Kilgore's depression-era progressivism and continues to serve local citizens. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990