Rose City Foundation | Foundation Repair in Kilgore, TX
Updated October 29, 2026
Kilgore is a city of 13,376 people (2020 Census) in Gregg and Rusk counties, where I-20 and US 259 meet south of the Sabine River, about 27 miles east-northeast of Tyler. Rose City Foundation sets up Kilgore homeowners with an insured local foundation specialist for pier-and-beam and slab repair and crack work.
- 13,376residents, 2020 Census
- 1973median year homes were built
- 34%homes built before 1960
- 37%mapped ground with a high water table
The City of Stars
Kilgore was founded in 1872 when the International–Great Northern laid track through land sold by Constantine Buckley Kilgore. It was a fading farm town until October 1930, when the Daisy Bradford No. 3 opened the East Texas Oil Field. By 1936 the population had passed 12,000. By the 1940s, more than 1,000 wooden derricks crowded the town, and one downtown block became "the World's Richest Acre." Today about 60 lighted steel replica derricks mark the skyline. Kilgore College, home of the Rangerettes, and the East Texas Oil Museum keep that history close.
Boom-era and mid-century houses
Census estimates for 2020–2024 put Kilgore's median home at 1973. About 61% of homes were built before 1980, about 34% before 1960, and about 80% are single-family detached. The boom left a lot of 1930s and 1940s frame houses on piers near downtown. Postwar and 1960s–70s neighborhoods are mostly slab.
Red clay subsoils and a wet table
Gregg County's most common mapped soils are Cuthbert, Bowie and Kirvin. They're the same sandy-over-red-clay series found around Tyler, but they cover more of the ground here. USDA data, as tabulated by FoundationSoils.com in October 2026, show about 3% expansive clay inside Kilgore and about 37% of the ground with a high water table, nearly four times Tyler's share. Expansive clay covers about 9% of Gregg County. Rain soaks through the sandy surface and sits on the clay below, which keeps crawl spaces and slab edges wet in rainy months.
What Kilgore homeowners run into
- Older pier-and-beam houses with sunken piers, crushed shims and rotted sills from decades of wet crawl spaces. See pier and beam repair.
- Mid-century slabs with dropped corners and stair-step brick cracks, usually where water collects. See slab repair.
- Cracks that need sorting out: cosmetic shrinkage versus real settlement. See crack repair.
- Old oilfield ground. Some lots near former well sites and pipelines have disturbed soil or fill. Mention it if you know your lot's history.
Before the visit
Note which doors stick and when, mark crack ends with a pencil and date, and dig out any past repair paperwork. Kilgore houses have often had work done before, and a pier map from a previous repair saves time.
Kilgore questions
Is Kilgore's soil the same as Tyler's?
It's similar, sandy over red clay, but with more of the clay-subsoil series and a much higher share of wet ground, about 37% high water table versus about 10% in Tyler, per USDA data.
Do you cover the Rusk County side of Kilgore?
Yes. Requests from both the Gregg and Rusk county parts of Kilgore and the surrounding area are fine.
Can old oil well sites affect a foundation?
Disturbed soil or fill near old well sites and pipelines can settle differently. If you know your lot's history, mention it so the specialist can factor it in.