Longview was founded in 1870 and was incorporated in 1871. The earliest reference to a City Hall is found on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps dated October 1890. At that time Longview had a population of 3,000 people. The location of this City Hall was at the southeast corner of Methvin and Central now known as Center Street. The building was a two story frame building with a calaboose (jail) located at the rear of the property.
The 1906 Sanborn maps indicated that a City Hall and Fire Station were built on Tyler Street. The address of the building was 243 Tyler Street which was later changed to 112 Tyler Street. By this time, the population had doubled to 6,500 people. The new building was a two story brick building with a shingle roof with the Fire Station located on the first floor and City Hall located on the second floor.
The population of Longview was exploding and with that growth there was a need for a larger city hall and fire station. In 1935, voters approved issuance of bonds to construct a new City Hall and Fire Station along with two other Fire Stations. The location the City chose for the new City Hall and Fire Station was the previous site of the Magnolia Hotel located at the southeast corner of Cotton and Center Streets. The land was purchased for $25,000 from the Dalston family. The City hired A.M. Campbell to construct the building at a cost of $86,016.00 and it was completed in 1936.
The style of the structure has influences from neoclassical and neo-Mediterranean. The building is a one-story rectangular plan in the front along Cotton Street with a two story fire station in the rear. The front of the building is clad in fossilized limestone while the back of the building is brick with limestone trim. It has a gable roof with red Spanish tile and a front door of heavy aluminum.
The Longview Municipal Building/Central Fire Station is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL).