Industry came to Gregg County after World War II

During World War II, Longview had a military hospital. After the war, that site became LeTourneau University. The LeTourneau manufacturing company also built a large factory in Longview. It made heavy earth-moving equipment. The Texas Eastman petrochemical plant opened in 1950 and became a major employer in the region.

These businesses gave Gregg County jobs outside oil and gas. Kilgore College was founded during the oil boom as the area grew. Interstate 20, started in 1964, later made travel and shipping easier across East Texas. So the county's modern economy is not an oil story alone. Schools, factories, petrochemicals, and I-20 are part of the same postwar story.