Gregg County, Texas

Gregg County Education, Geography, and History

Gregg County is a county located in the eastern part of the state of Texas. Based on the 2010 census, its population was 121,730. Its county seat is Longview. The county is named for John Gregg, a Confederate general killed in action during the American Civil War.

Gregg County is part of the Longview, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Longview-Marshall, TX Combined Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Gregg County Name

John Gregg, a Confederate war hero who died in the Civil War

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Gregg County History

This area was among early sections settled by United States immigrants before Texas became an independent republic and, after 1848, a state of the United States. It was an area developed as cotton plantations dependent on 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 introduced a bill to create a new county from parts of Harrison, 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 General John Gregg, and the county seat was determined by popular election.  Its seat is Longview

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 approximately 143 square miles (370 km²) taken from Upshur County, and the Sabine River was its southern boundary. In April 1874 about 141 square miles (370 km²) south of the Sabine River in Rusk County was added to Gregg County. The third portion, of about 145 square miles (380 km²) to be taken from Harrison County, was never realized.

Handbook of Texas Online
By 1872 both the International-Great Northern and the Texas and Pacific had built rail lines in the area that became Gregg County, which was marked off from southern Upshur County by the Thirteenth Texas Legislature on April 12, 1873. The bill originally called the new county Roanoke, but during passage of the legislation the name was changed to Gregg, in honor of Confederate war hero John B. Gregg. Longview was selected as the county seat. By an act of the Fourteenth Legislature, on April 30, 1874, Gregg County was extended southward to add a portion of northern Rusk County. More at
Suzanne Perry, "GREGG COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcg10), accessed January 23, 2016. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 276 square miles (716 km²), of which, 274 square miles (710 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (6 km²) of it (0.85%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Upshur County (north)
• Harrison County (east)
• Rusk County (south)
• Smith County (west)

Education

The following school districts serve Gregg County:

Gladewater ISD (partly in Smith, Upshur counties)
Kilgore ISD (partly in Rusk County)
Longview ISD
Pine Tree ISD
Sabine ISD
Spring Hill ISD
White Oak ISD

Compare More Colleges and Universities

Find more schools to match to your needs.

Start Now