Longview Fire Station During the Longview Race Riot of 1919

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Longview Fire Department’s central location in the city made it an essential location for the white mob during July 1919. This location became a place where the white mob gathered and attracted more members during the Longview Race Riot. While the building has been renovated, the fire department still stands in its original 1919 location.

Images

Martial Law at Longview

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

After the mob faced bullets and retaliation from those protecting Jones’ home, many white men felt the situation they created had escalated out of their control. According to newspaper accounts of the race riot, these men gathered at the fire station and rand the alarms for all to hear in hopes of recruiting more men to join them. When men heard the alarms, they rallied to the station and quickly accepted all they had been told by the men who started the violence and then joined them in attacking members of the Black community and anyone or anything associated with Jones.

Sources

Durham, Ken. (2020) Longview Race Riot of 1919.” TSHA, 2020.

Evans, Glenn, and Les Hassell. (2020). News-Journal Photo. “Longview's Deadly 1919 Race Riot: Passed down Memories, No Markers.” Longview News Journal.

Glasrud, B.A. (2015). Anti-Black Violence in Twentieth-Century Texas. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/longview-race-riot-1919/