Best Web Design in Longview, TX (2026)

Web Design for Longview, Texas

Longview is the seat of Gregg County in the Piney Woods of East Texas, a town that grew from a railroad survey point into a regional hub after the 1930 East Texas Oil Field turned the area into one of the richest petroleum pools ever found in the United States. Today it blends chemical and rail manufacturing with an active downtown arts district, and it fills its summer skies with the state's oldest hot-air balloon race. It is the hometown of Oscar winner Forest Whitaker and country star Miranda Lambert.

AppWT works with Longview, TX businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Longview

Also known as. Balloon Race Capital of Texas (Gregg County, proclaimed by the 83rd Texas Legislature in 2013). Real East Texas (city motto/brand). The Heart of East Texas.

History. Founded in 1870 on land bought from Ossamus Hitch Methvin Sr. when the Southern Pacific (Texas & Pacific) railroad came through; the name reportedly came from surveyors remarking 'What a long view!' from Methvin's porch. Incorporated on May 17, 1871, the first community in Gregg County to do so, and became the county seat after Gregg County was created on May 7, 1873. On May 23, 1894 the Bill Dalton gang robbed the First National Bank, touching off a gunfight that left four people dead. The July 1919 Longview race riot broke out when an armed white mob attacked a home sheltering a Chicago Defender reporter, part of the nationwide 'Red Summer' violence. Late in 1930 the discovery of the East Texas Oil Field, the largest petroleum pool then found in the U.S., pulled the county out of the Depression; area population jumped from roughly 16,000 to more than 100,000 within weeks. During World War II (1942-1945) the 'Big Inch' pipeline construction reached the area; the system carried more than 261 million barrels of crude to the East Coast.

Local economy. CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Medical Center is the largest employer with about 3,000 workers, and Longview Regional Medical Center adds roughly 1,393, making healthcare a major pillar. Eastman Chemical (the former Texas Eastman plant established in 1950, the largest inland petrochemical complex in Texas) employs about 1,510 and anchors the industrial base. Manufacturing and heavy industry include Komatsu Mining (about 675 employees), AAON Coil Products, and Trinity Rail Group railcar production. Dollar General operates a large distribution presence (about 762 employees); the early economy ran on cotton and timber before oil. The East Texas Oil Field legacy still shapes the identity of Longview and neighboring Kilgore and Gladewater as an oil-and-gas region.

Culture and community. The Great Texas Balloon Race, founded in the late 1970s by local dentist Dr. Bill Bussey, is the longest-running hot-air balloon event in Texas and draws well over 100,000 spectators each June. AlleyFest, held downtown on the first weekend of June since 1978, began as 'Alley Art' in Historic Bank Alley and now bundles an art show, the Alley Run (10K/5K/1-mile), Music Fest, Kids Fest, and Food Fest. Longview has held an annual Juneteenth celebration with parades and community events since 1985. The city's 320-acre downtown was designated a state Cultural District by the Texas Commission on the Arts in 2019; the Longview Museum of Fine Arts anchors the local visual-arts scene. Longview is the birthplace of Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) and country singer Miranda Lambert (born November 10, 1983); actor Matthew McConaughey graduated from Longview High School.

What makes Longview distinct. Gregg County is officially the 'Balloon Race Capital of Texas' by act of the state legislature. The World War II 'Big Inch' emergency oil pipeline ran through the area and moved 261 million-plus barrels of crude. The 1930 oil strike multiplied the local population several times over in a matter of weeks. Longview's Amtrak station ranks fifth-busiest in the entire state. Two globally famous entertainers, Forest Whitaker and Miranda Lambert, were both born in this mid-size East Texas city.

Longview is the seat of Gregg County and a commercial hub of East Texas that grew with the railroad and the East Texas oil boom. The city is known regionally for the Great Texas Balloon Race.

Longview Landmarks and Local Life

• Gregg County Historical Museum - Local history museum in the former Everett Building, a bank robbed by the Dalton Gang in 1894
• S.E. Belcher Jr. Chapel and Performance Center - Concert hall at LeTourneau University, home of the Longview Symphony
• Longview Museum of Fine Arts - Downtown nonprofit fine arts museum
• Longview Arboretum and Nature Center - 29-acre arboretum and nature center that opened in 2019
• Broughton Park - City park that hosts Longview's Juneteenth celebration

Longview at a Glance

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023.

• Median household income: About $62,488
• Adults with a bachelor degree or higher: About 22.8%
• Housing: About 53.4% of housing units are owner-occupied
• Housing: Roughly 61.1% of homes are single-family (single-unit) structures