Preachers Hill

Known to its residents as Preachers Hill and named when Bethel Temple Church was founded in 1920, this African American neighborhood was established near Longview's original townsite in the 1880s. Ella Jacob Cotton Loyd (1870-1957) came to Texas with planters William Cunyus and the Prothro family and settled in Longview. Family legend states that Ella built the home at 219 Clark Street in 1889 and became the matriarch of the neighborhood of around thirty families. Open fields were used for farming and a nearby creek provided fresh water. A commercial and social center emerged along with strong religious associations. Many local pastors, male and female, lived in the area. (2015)