Longview, Texas

Longview is a city in Gregg and Harrison Counties situated in East Texas just north of the Sabine River. Most of Longview is located in Gregg County, of which it is the county seat; only a small part sits in the western part of neighboring Harrison County. The city was founded in the early 1870s, when the Southern Pacific Railroad (later the Texas and Pacific) was looking for a place to build its next station. A local farmer offered 100 acres of land to the railroad for one gold dollar. The original 100 acres have since been designated as Longview’s "One Hundred Acres of Heritage". Longview is home to an estimated 78,000 residents.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Longview transformed from a once sleepy cotton, lumber, and railroad town populated largely by natives to a thriving commercial and industrial city dominated by Southern newcomers due to the discovery of the East Texas Oil Field located just a few miles outside the city. During the 1950s, the area's industrial development was enhanced when Eastman Kodak Company chose a site near Longview for its new petrochemical plant, the subsidiary was called Texas Eastman Company, which became the largest chemical complex in inland Texas. Robert G. LeTourneau opened a large manufacturing plant and later turned Harmon General Hospital into LeTourneau Technical Institute. Construction in Longview during the 1950s rivaled or exceeded that of the 1930s. Major residential subdivisions were developed. Longview's major industrial addition of the 1960s was the Schlitz (later Stroh) brewery. Today, the economy in Longview is strong. The East Texas Oil Field is still a pillar of Longview’s economy, other major sectors that drive Longview’s economy include services, technology, and manufacturing businesses. Top employers in Longview include Good Shepherd Medical Center, Eastman Chemical, Dana Corporation, LeTourneau University, and Stemco.

Use of asbestos containing products was prevalent for years at many jobsites in Longview, Texas. Accordingly, asbestos exposure has been an issue for workers and their loved ones. If you were exposed to asbestos in Longview and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you should also consider contacting an asbestos law firm.

Jobsites in Longview where Asbestos Exposure Occurred

A number of jobsites in Longview, TX have been identified as harboring asbestos containing materials. These sites, at one point in their history, were known to have exposed a variety of tradesmen to asbestos. We will be documenting in more detail how asbestos exposure occurred at these sites in the future on this web site.