This site was once within the boundary of the community of Earpville, settled in the late 1840s by James Earp (d. 1861) and many of his relatives from Alabama. Located on a stagecoach line, the settlement at its height boasted a post office, stage stop, Methodist church, and retail businesses and was the commercial and social center for farmers in the region. Part of James Earp's original homesite was sold to the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1870. It became the site of the new town of Longview and signaled the decline of Earpville. (1989)