Tyler

Sister cities

• Metz
• Jelenia Góra

History

Legal recognition of Tyler was initiated by an act of the state legislature on April 11, 1846. The Texas government created Smith County and authorized a county seat. The first plat designated a 28-block town site centered by a main square within a tract acquired by Smith County on 6 February 1847. The new town was named for President John Tyler, who advocated for the annexation of Texas by the United States. A log building on the square's north side served as a courthouse and public meeting hall until a brick courthouse displaced it in . The City of Tyler was incorporated on January 29, 1850. Early religious and social institutions included the First Baptist Church and a Methodist church, a Masonic lodge and an Odd Fellows lodge, and Tyler's first newspaper. Though Tyler's early economy from – was based on agriculture, it was also well-diversified during this period. Logging was a second major industry, while complementary manufacturing included metalworking, milling wood, and leather tanning. As the seat of Smith County, the town also benefited from government activity. The local agricultural economy relied on slave labor before the Civil War. In 1860, the population of enslaved people in Smith County was 4,982, the 4th most in east Texas. By 1860, Tyler held over 1,000 enslaved persons, which represented 35 percent of the town's population. There was strong support for secession and the Confederacy within Tyler, as a high percentage of its residents voted for secession and many of its men served in the Confederate States Army. The town was a secure enough location during the war for the Trans-Mississippi Department to establish the Tyler Ordnance Works for the resupply of its forces west of the Mississippi River. In 1870, Bonner and Williams established Tyler's…

Geography

The city of Tyler is in the Southern United States, in Northeast Texas. It is sometimes considered part of the wider Ark-La-Tex region where Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas meet. The city is approximately from Longview; from Marshall; from Dallas; from Texarkana; from the state capital of Austin; and from Shreveport, Louisiana. Tyler is the seat of government of Smith County, and is surrounded by many suburban communities, including Whitehouse, Lindale, New Chapel Hill, Bullard, Edom, Brownsboro, Kilgore, Flint, and Chandler. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is covered by water. Tyler is the principal city of the Greater Tyler metropolitan area, and a principal city in the Tyler–Longview area, a conurbation of the Tyler and Longview metropolitan and combined statistical areas. Downtown architecture features the Art Deco and neoclassical styles, many dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Modernist- and postmodernist-era structures are also present throughout the cityscape. Central Tyler is anchored by Brick Streets Historic District and Charnwood Residential Historic District, areas characterized by dense retail, restaurants, nightlife, and historic landmarks. Brick Streets Historic District is the largest geographic area of Tyler. It encompasses 29 blocks and primarily consists of buildings constructed in the 1900s. The district area is predominantly residential though it sometimes serves as a mix-use district. Brick Streets Historic District has brick-paved streets and stone-lined drainage channels. Nearby, Charnwood is Tyler's first historic district. It comprises 12 blocks of late 19th and early 20th century architecture. Tyler experiences weather typical of East Texas. The region is…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,807
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,646
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  3,530
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  3,372
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,934
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,841
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,725
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,704

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2025-03-29
  13 km NNE of Wells, Texas
• M 3.1 — 2021-12-29
  12 km W of Nacogdoches, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2020-03-23
  6 km NW of Timpson, Texas
• M 2.6 — 2019-07-27
  6 km SSW of Timpson, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2018-09-12
  1 km SSE of Timpson, Texas
• M 3.5 — 2018-09-04
  7 km NNW of Timpson, Texas