DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Preachers Hill. Now, every good neighborhood's got a story, and this one starts with a name that tells you something right away. Preachers Hill.
You hear that and you already know the kind of place it was — the kind of place where folks put down roots deep enough to last. It sits near Longview's original townsite in Gregg County, and this African American neighborhood was established back in the 1880s. The name itself came later, when Bethel Temple Church was founded in 1920, and from that point on, Preachers Hill was Preachers Hill.
But the soul of that community? That was already growing long before the church got its name on the map. Now, if you're gonna talk about Preachers Hill, you've got to talk about Ella Jacob Cotton Loyd.
She came to Texas with planters William Cunyus and the Prothro family, and she settled in Longview. Family legend — and I want you to sit with those two words for a second, because family legend is how the truest things get carried — family legend states that Ella built the home at 219 Clark Street in 1889. She was born in 1870 and she lived until 1957, and somewhere in the long stretch of that life she became the matriarch of a neighborhood of around thirty families.
Thirty families. That's not a small thing. That is a community.
Open fields were used for farming. A nearby creek provided fresh water. And out of that land, out of that water, out of those thirty families and their daily lives, a commercial and social center emerged.
Strong religious associations took hold. And the pastors — men and women both — many of them lived right there in the neighborhood. That's not a coincidence.
That's a character. Preachers Hill earned its name.
What the marker says
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)