As you drive through downtown Kilgore, you will pass the former Kilgore Post Office built at 200 S Kilgore. The buidling is a striking example of New Deal era architecture completed in 1938 and opened for service in 1939. At the height of the East Texas Oil Boom, this building stood at the center of a thriving and confident community.
Inside, the building became famous for its murals by artist Xavier Gonzalez, created as part of a federal art program. These works, including Pioneer Saga, celebrate the people, labor, and history that shaped Kilgore and the surrounding region. The murals were later placed in storage at the East Texas Oil Museum before being returned to this building in 2019.
The post office served the city until 1998, when postal operations moved elsewhere. In 1999, the Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation purchased the building and led an extensive restoration that preserved its historic character while giving it new life.
Today, the structure is known as the Kilgore History and Arts Center, also called the Old U.S. Post Office. It now functions as a cultural hub, hosting events, art exhibits, and programs focused on local history, with a special emphasis on the East Texas Oil Boom era. As you pass by, you are looking at a building that reflects Kilgore’s prosperity in the 1930s and its ongoing commitment to preserving and celebrating its past.