New Deal Era in Kilgore

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.

New Deal Era in Kilgore is a historical marker in Kilgore, Gregg County, dedicated in 1993. It is one of 81 historical markers documented in Gregg County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 124 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.3841, -94.8709 near Kilgore. The nearest cataloged historic site is Allis-Chalmers Pumps (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Kilgore Public Library, First Baptist Church of Kilgore, and St. Luke's United Methodist Church.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5183009983. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.