Fence Installation and Repair in Kilgore, TX

An oil-boom city on two counties

Kilgore sits about 25 miles east of Tyler by TX-31, where Interstate 20 meets US 259 in rolling pine country south of the Sabine River. More than three-fourths of the city lies in Gregg County and the rest in Rusk County. It grew up in the 1930s East Texas oil boom, and much of the land in and around town was once oil field. The city counted 13,376 residents in 2020.

Derricks, downtown and older homes

Downtown, 60 steel replica derricks stand as a reminder of the boom, including those at World's Richest Acre Park. The homes around the center date from the boom years and the decades after, and an older in-town fence with split pickets and leaning runs is a familiar sight. A section-by-section repair can bring a fence like that back without replacing the whole line, as long as most posts are still solid at grade.

Newer subdivisions and a permit threshold

Newer subdivisions have filled in around the older core, where backyard privacy fences are the usual request. The city's permit threshold sits at six feet, so an owner choosing between a six- and an eight-foot fence is also deciding whether a permit is needed. Kilgore's Development Services and Building Services office is at 815 N. Kilgore Street, and its own advice is to ask before starting any project, which the business follows on each job.

Cedar and stain for a lasting finish

For owners who want a fence with more natural resistance to decay and a warmer color than treated pine, cedar pickets are a common upgrade. Gregg County is on Texas A&M's list of counties where Formosan subterranean termites have been detected, so the posts under a cedar fence still deserve attention, and a sealer on the pickets slows graying in full sun.

Schools and neighbors to the north

Kilgore College, home of the Rangerettes drill team, sits near downtown, and the area is split between Kilgore ISD and, to the north, Sabine ISD. TX-31 is the direct route back toward Tyler, while TX-42 and TX-135 are the other state highways through town. Kilgore mail uses ZIP 75662. At about 35 minutes from central Tyler, Kilgore is one of the farther towns in the service area.

Kilgore fence questions