Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk counties in Texas, United States. Located where Interstate 20 and US 259 converge just south of the Sabine River. Over three-fourths of the area within city limits are located in Gregg County, the remainder in Rusk County. The population was 12,975 at the 2010 census and 13,376 at the 2020 census.
The Texas Ranger Division, also known as the Texas Rangers and nicknamed the Diablos Tejanos, is an investigative law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in the U.S. state of Texas, based in the capital city Austin. In the time since its creation, the Texas Rangers have investigated crimes ranging from murder to political corruption, acted in riot control and as detectives, protected the governor of Texas, tracked down fugitives, served as a security force at important state locations, including the Alamo, and functioned as a paramilitary force at the service of both the Republic (1836–1846) and the State of Texas.
Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate degree. The college was established in 1935 at the height of the East Texas oil boom, and as such, is home to the East Texas Oil Museum which houses a large collection of memorabilia documenting this period of Texas history. It is also famous for having the first ever dance-drill team, the Kilgore College Rangerettes, which began in 1940 under the direction of Gussie Nell Davis.
The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion and destroyed the London School in New London, Texas, United States. The disaster killed more than 300 students and teachers. As of 2021, the event is the third-deadliest disaster in the history of Texas, after the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the 1947 Texas City disaster.
Wyatt Merle Kilgore was an American singer, songwriter, and manager. Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, he was raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. At the time of his death, he was the personal manager of Hank Williams Jr.
The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, Texas, is the state-designated official historical center of the famed Texas Rangers law enforcement agency. It consists of the Homer Garrison Jr. museum gallery, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame, the Texas Ranger Research Center and the Headquarters of Texas Rangers Company "F". The City of Waco serves as the appointed trustee on behalf of the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Legislature.
Francis Augustus Hamer was an American lawman and Texas Ranger who led the 1934 posse that tracked down and killed criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Renowned for his toughness, marksmanship, and investigative skill, he acquired status in the Southwest as the archetypal Texas Ranger. He was inducted into the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. His professional record and reputation are controversial, particularly with regard to his willingness to use extrajudicial killing even in an increasingly modernized society.
David Eugene Clyde is a former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played for five seasons with the Texas Rangers (1973–1975) and Cleveland Indians (1978–1979). He is noted for his once promising baseball career, which ended at age 26 because of arm and shoulder injuries.
Robert Earl Short was an American businessman, sport teams owner, and politician. Short owned the Minneapolis / Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association and the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball. He served as the treasurer of the Democratic National Committee from 1968 to 1969.
John David Roberts was an American college and professional football coach. He was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL) from the middle of the 1970 season until his dismissal after four preseason games in 1973. He played college ball for the Oklahoma Sooners.
Loyie Nawlin "Buddy" Humphrey was an American American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, and St. Louis Cardinals. He also was a member of the Houston Oilers in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football at Baylor University and was drafted in the second round of the 1959 NFL draft.
Clyde Littlefield was an American sports and athletics coach. The head track and field coach at The University of Texas from 1920 to 1961 as well as its football coach from 1927 to 1933. In his 41 years at Texas, his athletic teams won 25 Southwest Conference championships and in football the Longhorns had a 44–18–6 record and won two Southwest Conference championships. He was also on the US coaching staff at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
William A. Mercer is an American sportscaster, educator and author. Originally from Muskogee, Oklahoma, he has retired to Durham, North Carolina after a long residence in Richardson, Texas. In 2002, he was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.
The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, located in Muskogee, Oklahoma, honors Oklahoma musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The induction ceremony and concert are held each year in Muskogee. Since its establishment in 1997, the Hall of Fame has inducted more than 100 individuals or groups, held numerous concerts, and renovated in part the facility that will educate Oklahomans for generations about those innovators and industry icons from Oklahoma.
Scott Myers is an American painter and sculptor who lives and works in Texas. He graduated Texas A&M University in 1984 with a doctorate in veterinary medicine. He studied sculpture throughout Italy focusing on Florence, Venice and Rome. Sculpting in Tuscany, he cast his work in bronze at the prestigious Fonderia d'Arte Massimo Del Chiaro in Pietrasanta. In 1994, Myers became an elected member of the National Sculpture Society. On February 12, 2011, Myers was featured in the popular television show Texas Country Reporter. Myers was inducted in the inaugural class of the Haltom City High School Hall of Fame on March 10, 2011.
The Kilgore News Herald is a daily newspaper in Kilgore in east Texas. The newspaper is owned by M. Roberts Media, who acquired the paper from Bluebonnet Publishing in 2018.
Byron McLean Rankin, Jr., nicknamed "Mack," was a prominent member in the Texas oil industry who became a part-owner of the Texas Rangers.
Gussie Nell Davis was an American teacher and choroegrapher best known as the founder of the Kilgore College Rangerettes, who in September 1940 became the first all-girls drill team to perform on a college football field with the forward vision of Miss Davis. The organization created a unique combination of dance moves and precision drills that quickly earned them the reputation not only as the originators of dance/drill teams, but also as the best in the world, with the highest kicks in the world. Known for their high kicks and the jump splits, the organization has traveled around the world, has entertained millions and spurred a multi-billion-dollar dance/drill team industry worldwide.
This article traces the history of Kilgore, Texas,.
The Texas Trail Hall of Fame is a cowboy hall of fame in Fort Worth, Texas. Established in 1997, the building is located at 208 N.W. 24th Street, in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District of the city.
