In March, 1916, Judge W. R. Stephens was serving as Mayor of Gilmer. During Mr. Stephens’ administration, the city completed a sanitary sewerage system which had been started under Mayor Tom Briggs, and inaugurated several improvements for the town. Notable among these improvements was the reduction of fire insurance rates through improvements in the fire department and the purchase of the first motorized truck and equipment which was the pride of the entire county. In the April election of 1916, Judge T. H. Briggs was elected mayor. He had previously served the town four years, from 1910 to 1914, and during that time his accomplishments included the graveling of the courthouse square, and beginning a sanitary sewerage system. A contract was made with the Public Service Company to furnish the city light and power. Montgomery and several other streets were graveled during Judge Briggs’ second term as mayor. Residential streets were graveled, and the square; Tyler and Buffalo streets from the square to the Cotton Belt railroad were paved with brick during R. M. Denman’s administration as mayor. Mr. Denman was followed in office by L. N. Coe. Probably Mr. Coe’s greatest accomplishment was in securing natural gas for the town. Gilmer today is one of the outstanding towns of East Texas. It has conveniences that many towns larger than it doesn’t have, including city mail delivery. Gilmer has a number of merchandising establishments, including four wholesale concerns, that do an extensive business throughout the country. There are two national banks here with a combined deposit of over five million dollars. Gilmer has a magnificent high school, with buses bringing high school pupils in from the surrounding districts. It has a beautiful grade school and a first class school for negroes. Gilmer has a public library, a public park, an active chamber of commerce and two motion picture theaters. There are four friendly churches here, all cooperating together for the moral and spiritual growth of the town. There are two cotton gins located here, a lumber mill, two ice plants, a cottonseed oil mill, a fertilizer plant, a bakery, and many other industrial enterprises. Gilmer is a clean, moral town, and is noted for its absence of saloons, honky tonks and other places of questionable character. The citizens of Gilmer are a big hearted people, working together in a friendly cooperation, with the one goal in view—the happiness of its citizens and the development of Gilmer and Upshur County. With its beautiful paved streets, its modern residences, its beautiful schools and churches, and above all, its friendly citizenship, we can’t understand why everybody doesn’t want to live in Gilmer! Big Sandy