Laird Hill, Texas

Unincorporated community in Texas, United States

32°21′12″N 94°54′20″W / 32.35333°N 94.90556°W / 32.35333; -94.90556CountryUnited StatesStateTexasCountyRuskTime zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)GNIS feature ID1339478

Laird Hill is an unincorporated community in northwestern Rusk County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 405 in 2000. It is located within the Longview, Texas metropolitan area.

History

The area in what is known as Laird Hill today was named for a local family of settlers. It was originally known as Pistol Hill during the East Texas oil boom. The community's first postmaster was Ignatius S. Crutcher, who was appointed in 1936. Its population was 500 in 1940 with eight businesses; this went down to 461 and four businesses in 1970 and ended at 405 from 1980 through 2000, and the number of businesses went up from one to five.^[1]

On April 25, 1957, an F3 tornado struck the community.^[2]

Geography

Laird Hill is located on Texas State Highway 42, just southwest of Kilgore on the northern boundary of Rusk County.^[1] It is also on Texas State Highway 135 and Farm to Market Road 2012.

Education

The Leverett's Chapel Independent School District and the Kilgore Independent School District serve area students.

Notable person

John Martin Thompson, Native American tribal leader and lumberjack.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b Biesele, Megan. "Laird Hill, TX". tshaonline.org. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
^ "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
^ Cherokee Cavaliers: Forty Years of Cherokee History As Told in the Correspondence of the Ridge-Watie-Boudinot Family, 1939 By Edward Everett Dale and Gaston Litton, University of Oklahoma Press