Nuggett Hill offered something special
By Van Craddock
Discovery of the great East Texas Oil Field in 1930-1931 brought thousands of new residents to the area. And they all needed a place to live.
Those who struck it rich in the oil patch wanted something fancy. Harry Turner offered them Longview's Nuggett Hill addition.
Nuggett Hill, today designated a historic district, covered some 40 acres and bordered U.S. 15 (today U.S. 80, East Marshall Avenue) on the north, Teague Street to the east, Padon Street and Turner Drive on the south, and North Sixth Street to the west.
Nuggett Hill was one of several prominent hills in early Longview. It was home in the 1880s to Jere Clemens Turner, pioneer Longview businessman, and his family. Turner, a grocer and cotton broker, raised horses and Jersey cows on his property.
Harry Turner, one of Jere's sons, was manager of the Turner Estate's effort to develop Nuggett Hill as a residential area when the oil boom arrived.
Between 1931-1935, some 2,000 homes were built in Longview. Most were modest residences, to be sure. But Nuggett Hill offered something for folks who had shared in the "black gold" bonanza.
Platting his subdivision in 1932, Turner required that Nuggett Hill houses must be of masonry or brick, stone or stucco construction (although a couple of frame houses were allowed). Each house had to cost a minimum of $5,000. The neighborhood would have paved streets with concrete curbs and gutters.
"Nuggett Hill is free from dust, and also from noise and heavy traffic," said an early advertisement. "No highways or principal streets pass through the addition."
In May 1936, the Longview News-Journal noted Nuggett Hill had evolved "from cow pasture to the city's most exclusive residential area. Many of the city's finest and most beautiful homes are located in Nuggett Hill addition, known throughout East Texas for its beautiful lawns and gardens."
One of the most unique homes in Nuggett Hill was the James Stuckey residence (1935) on Charlotte Drive. The Spanish Colonial Revival structure featured a multi-gabled tile roof, two-story tower with wrought iron balcony, and a large stained-glass window.
Another impressive residence was the 1934 home of Judge Will C. Hurst on Sixth Street. It, too, was Spanish style and covered more than 3,800 square feet. Other homes were in Tudor, Colonial Revival and Mediterranean styles.
(In 1935, Judge Hurst gave a block south of Nuggett Hill to First Christian Church, which left its downtown location on Green Street to build a new church on Sixth Street.)
One of Nuggett Hill's selling points in the mid-1930s was nearby medical care and fire protection. Gregg County Memorial Hospital, today the sprawling complex called Good Shepherd Medical Center, sat just west of the subdivision.
In 1935 the city of Longview built two fire sub-stations, bought two new fire trucks and added six firefighters. One station was a Spanish-style structure in Nuggett Hill that faced U.S. 15. The other was the Idylwood station on South Mobberly Avenue to accommodate new southside subdivisions.
"These stations offer quick service to a fire in any section of town," reported the Longview News-Journal in May 1936. The new stations met "a long-felt need for adequate fire protection and will result in a substantial reduction in the fire insurance key rate."
Harry Turner's development was a big success. Almost eight decades later, Nuggett Hill remains a desirable location for homeowners.
In 1998, Nugget Hill Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.