*Longview Negro High School began classes on this date in 1874. This was one of the earliest Schools for blacks in Texas. Longview, Texas, was founded in 1870 when deeded one hundred acres of land to the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Initially, this was for all grades except high school, where pupils had to pay. This property was for the erection of a brick building to house Longview High School, replacing the frame structure built in 1884. In 1930, when oil was discovered in East Texas, school enrollment increased from 1,970 to 4,400 in two years. No oil had been discovered within the Longview School District.
A financial crisis intensified because the district was operating on a limited tax base with a state per capita payment of $17 per student. The main building housing Foster Middle School today was completed in 1929 and represented an investment of $130,000. At that time, it was Longview Senior High School. Longview Negro High School operated from about 1899 to 1932.
1949 a modern building replaced the structure, and the school was renamed Womack High School in 1959. Following the total integration of the schools in 1970, the Womack High School building was eventually closed. It was later torn down in 1983.
