The Grove
Longview, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Grove The Grove was a natural timber stand within what became Longview in 1870. Tradition holds that the area's freedmen gathered in the Grove for worship services as early as the 1860s. In 1871, John R. Magrill sold the one-acre grove tract to the town's African American population. Acting on their behalf were O.J. Taylor, Silas Billup and Alick Berry. Over the years, the Grove was an important gathering place for the local African American community. Efforts in the 1930s to acquire the land for oil production failed due to confusion over the title, and the city later adopted the land for use as a park, now known as Magrill Plaza. (2003)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Grove was a natural stand of timber within the young railroad town of Longview, where local freedmen are said to have gathered for worship as early as the 1860s. In 1871 the one-acre tract was sold to the town's African American population, and for generations it remained a cherished community gathering place. A 1930s bid to drill it for oil collapsed over a tangled land title, and the city later turned the ground into a park, today called Magrill Plaza.
Why it matters
The Grove shows how newly freed people claimed and held sacred ground of their own in Reconstruction-era Texas, preserving a communal space that outlasted even the East Texas oil boom.
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Related people
- · John R. Magrill
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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