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208 East College
Date of construction: 1885
Architectural Style: Queen Anne
Recorded Texas Historical Landmark: 1999
Local merchant B. F. Lewis and his wife, E. A. Lewis, constructed the house. In 1905 they sold their home to James Knox Bivins, a Confederate veteran and lumberman, who presented the deed to his wife Viola (Cobb) as a gift. The couple moved to Longview in order to live close to his sawmill in the nearby Talley community. Mr. Bivins also worked as an apprentice at the Kelly Plow Company.
The Bivins family raised 4 children in the large home on College Street. Years later, in 1941, with an inheritance from her father, Viola Bivins restored the structure. Mrs. Bivins is also remembered for helping to form the Red Cross Chapter in Longview.
Among the last Victorian dwellings in Longview, the structure exhibits mixed folk Victorian elements with cornice returns, spindlework porch balusters and decorative porch post brackets. A simple folk form with Queen Anne accents, the design remains largely intact.
The home was purchased in 2002 by Bill Haacke and David Fields.
820 Stuckey
Date of construction: 1934
Architectural Style: Arts and Crafts
In 1934 John C. and Mary Lee Robbins built their home on Stuckey Drive. A college student at age 14 and a Second Lieutenant in World War II, John C. Robbins entered the oil business in 1930 and started the Robbins Petroleum Company of Longview.
Originally a small cottage with living room, kitchen, breakfast area, 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, when the Robbins only had one child (Betty), the home was enlarged by 2 extra bedrooms and bath on the west side in the 1940’s following the birth of John Clinton and Dorothy. In the late 40’s a bedroom was added on the east side for Dorothy and a rear patio was converted to a family room.
Built with local materials, the house was originally wood framed with a wood shingle roof, painted wood siding, trim, doors and windows with dark green accents at the wood shingled gables. The structure is closely related to the bungalow style, being small-scaled and one story, with exposed rafters and a lack of ornamentation. A distinct characteristic of this style is the way the front door opens into the living room, which is directly connected to a dining room with a wide opening between.
The backyard originally extended to Highway 80, but Pizza King had the first option to purchase the frontage on the highway.
The home is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Bratz, a preservation architect and his wife.
316 South Fredonia
Date of construction: 1879
Architectural Style: Neo-Classical
Longview’s first millionaire and cotton merchant, Frank T. Rembert, married Kate Womack in 1878 and purchased this home in 1879 for $500 from Mary Bateman.
After visiting the famous World Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893, famous for the late 19th century trend of classical details and the notion that "white (paint) was right," Rembert began making changes in the home and adapted it from the Queen Anne to the European Neo-Classical style.
In 1910, a fire destroyed the detached kitchen. Rembert moved the kitchen to the north side of the house and built a garage for his 1910 Buick on the site of the former kitchen.
Rembert improved the quality of life for the people of Longview when he built the Rembert Theater on Cotton Street in 1915, just one week after a fire destroyed Longview’s Grand Opera House, and next door to his Palace Hotel. Following a European vacation in 1907, being smitten with Scotland’s Loch Lomand, he and his wife also helped finance construction of a first class facility for social gatherings, misspelled and commonly referred to as Lake Lamond.
Cotton Street was named for its appearance as "a street of cotton" when Rembert literally lined the street with cotton bales he bought from area farmers.
Upon his death in 1926, Frank left the house to his wife Kate, whose nephew John Womack Harrison, Sr. moved from Plainview with his wife and daughter to live with her. A sun porch was added in 1926 and in 1934 a back bedroom was added to provide a room for newly arrived John Harrison Jr.
The house now belongs to John Harrison and is being lovingly restored.
322 Teague Street
Date of construction: 1873
Architectural Style: Gothic farmhouse
Recorded Texas Historical Landmark: 1966
One of the few remaining houses of Earpville (early Longview), the Teague House was considered to be "an old house" in 1882 when it was purchased by Mary and Lattimus Teague of Alabama. Built before Gregg County was formed from parts of Upshur and Rusk Counties in 1873, the records of the deed were lost when a court house fire destroyed Upshur County records.
With its high-pitched roof and steep narrow brick chimneys, the house is similar to 19th century New England Gothic farmhouses. Each room was warmed by a wood-burning fireplace, and a huge porch still extends across the front and side of the home.
The tall clapboard farmhouse welcomed weary travelers on the William Brooks stagecoach line from Monroe, Louisiana to Tyler, Texas.
The Teague family had 10 children, but only one grand-child, who died in early childhood. The Teagues’ daughters, Molly and Sarah, held school sessions and taught music lessons in the home after 1890. There are no Teague family descendants.
Teague Pond, now part of Teague Park, was always part of this site. In 1935, Lattimus W. Teague sold 20 acres to the City of Longview as a memorial to his sister Sarah.
30 South Green Street
Date of construction: 1924
Architectural Style: Arts and Crafts Cottage
John and Charlotte Wrather purchased the home in 2007 from the estate of Oliver Daniel, who was associated with the Gregg Hotel.
The home contains more than 2800 square feet of living space, with additional screen and open porches and a carport.
The Wrathers have adapted the home for their business office of Cherokee Minerals.
We welcome more information on the history of this home.