Everett Building

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Everett Building in Longview. Now settle in, because this is a story about a building that's been quietly holding its ground while everything around it changed. Back in 1910, a man named Lafayette Johnson Everett had something to prove.

Everett was a businessman and civic leader with roots in both Gladewater and Longview, and when he decided to put up a building, he wasn't going to put up just any building. He brought in Samuel J. Blocker to do the designing.

Blocker wasn't just any architect either. The marker calls him a noted architect and educator, which tells you something about the kind of mind behind those plans. What Blocker drew up, and what Everett built, was the only example of classical revival commercial architecture in all of Longview.

The only one. In a town that's seen plenty of construction come and go, that distinction has held. The building went up to house the Citizens National Bank, which was its original purpose in 1910.

But purpose, as any Texan knows, is a flexible thing over time. Through the years, the Everett Building has housed numerous banks and professional offices, which means it has watched whole financial eras rise and fall beneath its roof without so much as changing its address. And the building itself, the bones of it, still carries those outstanding features Blocker put there: a rounded bay and a recessed main entrance, details that say somebody was thinking about more than just function.

Today the Everett Building is recognized as part of the heritage of Longview's business community. One building, one architect, one determined civic leader, and more than a century of Longview life passing through that recessed front door.

What the marker says

Built in 1910 to house the Citizens National Bank, this structure is the only example of classical revival commercial architecture in Longview. Designed by noted architect and educator Samuel J. Blocker, the Everett Building was constructed by Gladewater and Longview businessman and civic leader Lafayette Johnson Everett. Outstanding features of the building include its rounded bay and recessed main entrance. through the years, the Everett Building has housed numerous banks and professional offices and is part of the heritage of Longview's business community. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983