Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Near Longview Heights Longview, TX

Longview was founded in 1870 when landowner Ossamus Hitch Methvin Sr. sold 100 acres to the Southern Pacific Railroad for a single dollar to make sure the railroad came through his land.

Longview incorporated on May 17, 1871, and in 1873 it became the seat of the newly organized Gregg County, which was named for Confederate general John Gregg.

Local tradition says Longview got its name from the 'long view' that could be taken in from Rock Hill, the high point near Methvin's home.

The discovery of the East Texas Oil Field in 1930 — then the largest oil field in the world — transformed Longview almost overnight from a quiet farm and lumber town into an oil boomtown.

Longview counted 81,638 residents in the 2020 Census, and its three-county metropolitan area of Gregg, Upshur and Rusk counties held roughly 297,000 people in 2025 estimates.

Longview has about 33,009 households averaging 2.40 people each, and about 54.7% of its homes are owner-occupied.

LeTourneau University was founded in 1946 by industrialist R. G. LeTourneau, the earthmoving-machinery inventor who built a huge manufacturing plant in Longview and started the school to train his workers.

Longview hosts the Great Texas Balloon Race every summer — an event that began in 1978 and is billed as the longest-running hot air balloon event in Texas.

The Texas Legislature officially designated Longview the 'Balloon Capital of Texas' in 2013.

Alongside LeTourneau, Longview is also served by a Longview campus of Kilgore College and the University of Texas at Tyler's Longview University Center.