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TYLER,
TEXASSmith
County Seat, East
Texas
Junctions of US Hwy 69 & 271,
State Hwy 14, 31,
64, 110, & 155
99 miles SE of Dallas
37 miles W of Longview
59 miles W of Marshall
Population:
83,650 (2000) Book
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Tyler
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TYLER
A drive with beauty
and history
Excerpted from
"The East Texas Sunday Drive Book"
by Bob Bowman
The
countryside around Tyler is both beautiful and historical, and this Sunday Drive
will give you an opportunity to simultaneously enjoy the two aspects.
Start your trip in downtown Tyler with a visit to the Carnegie History
Center, located at 125 South College. Open Wednesday through Sunday, the Center
offers an excellent overview of the history of Tyler and Smith County, starting
with the days when Indians roamed the land.
You'll also want to take
enough time to drive through a residential area surrounding Bergfeld Park,
located on South Broadway. This area is known for its stately mansions and historic
homes, many of them dating back to the l930s when oil brought immense wealth to
Tyler. Some of the north-west streets you'll want to explore include South College,
Bois d' Arc, College, Robertson and Chilton.
As you drive, pay close
attention to the old brick streets. They constitute one of the largest
collections of brick-surfaced streets in Texas.
Tyler, settled in the
l840s, owes its name to President John Tyler. Smith County, of which Tyler
has been the only county seat, was created in l846 from part of what is now Nacogdoches
County. the county was named for General James Smith, a Texas Revolution leader
who was serving in the Republic of Texas Congress when the county was named for
him.
Every visit to Tyler should include a tour of the municipal Rose
Gardens, the largest garden of its type in the country. Boasting over 38,000
rose bushes with more than 500 varieties, the garden is located adjacent to the
East Texas Fair Grounds on West Front Street. Nearby is Rose Stadium, home
of Tyler Junior College's football team.
Tyler
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| | The
First Baptist Church in Tyler
Photo courtesy Lori Martin, 2005 |
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Other
Attractions in Tyler
include:The
Tyler Museum of Art, located adjacent to Tyler Junior College on Mahon Street.
The museum offers changing exhibits of 19th and 20th century art. It is open Tuesday
through Sunday. Hunall
Planetarium, also on the Tyler Junior College campus. It is the only planetarium
in East Texas and offers seasonal shows on a variety of celestrial subjects. Call
for show times and reservations.
Brookshire's World of Wildlife, located at the Brookshire headquarters on
Loop 323 in South Tyler. The museum contains more than 150 specimens of animals
from across the globe with special emphasis on African and North American Wildlife.
In addition, you can step back to the 1930s at an old-fashioned country store
and see how grocery shopping has changed. The exhibits are open Monday through
Friday.Caldwell
Zoo, located on Martin Luther King Boulevard in North Tyler. The muncipal
zoo offers exhibits with more than 500 animals, making it the most complete zoo
in East Texas. The zoo is open
every day.Goodman
Museum, located on North Broadway near the downtown area. This antebellum
home features 19th century artifacts, antiques and period medical instruments.
Days of operation change with the seasons.The
site of Camp
Ford on U.S. 271, just north of Loop 323. The Civil War prison camp housed
up to 6,000 Union soldiers in the l860s. Myrtle-Vale,
Colonel John Dewberry's Home
-
"The $194,000 restoration was completed in 2001 and Colonel Dewberry’s
proud old home is now open for tours, receptions and other events. The restoration
also earned the Bergfelds the prestigious Terry Preservation Award given annually
by the East Texas Historical Association. Today, Myrtle-Vale is one of the most
magnificent pre-Civil War homes still standing in East
Texas." 15 miles southwest of Tyler.
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Tyler Azalea Trails
- "The trails wind through old neighborhoods south of downtown." Photo
courtesy Sam Fenstermacher, March 2006 | |
You
may want to time your Sunday Drive with two special events, the world-famous Tyler
Rose Festival, which is held in the middle of each October, and the Tyler
Azalea Trail, which is held in late March and early April. Held in conjunction
with the Azalea Trail is Tyler Heritage on Tour, which features several
historic homes, complete with carriage rides.
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When
you leave Tyler, continue your Sunday Drive by heading north on Farm Road 14,
which will carry you to Tyler State Park, a jewel of a recreational area
carved from the pine forests. The park offers facilities for swimming, historical
intrepetration, camping and picnicking.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/tyler/tyler.htm
From the Tyler
State Park, continue north on 14 until the road intersections with Farm Road 16.
Start south on 16 until you reach the community of Winona,
which was settled in the early l840s and named for Winona Douglas, the daughter
of a prominent businessman.
At Winona, continue on 16 to the old town of Starrville,
once an important overnight stop for stagecoaches and freight haulers, as well
as a crucial manufacturing community. In l869, Starrville had the Texas Fair,
said by some sources to have been the first state fair in Texas. From
Starrville, turn south on Farm Road 757 until you intersect with Farm Road 345
west of Arp. Turn south on 345 until it turns into 346 and follow the latter into
Troup, a one-time planters
village that was developed as a railroad stop in the l870s.
From Troup, head back toward Tyler on Texas 110, but between Troup and Whitehouse,
turn east on Farm Road 344 to Bullard.
Near Bullard is the old town of Burning
Bush, a religious colony that existed between 1912 and 1915. The colony
grew truck crops, processed fruits and tried unsuccessfully to drill for oil. At
Bullard, continue east on
344, which will carry you along the eastern edge of Lake Palestine. You
can continue along the lake shoreline by picking up Farm Road 266 at its intersection
with 344 and Texas 155.
Stay on 2661 until it intersects with Texas 64. Turn to the east here until you
reach the intersection with Farm Road 724. Continue in a northerly direction on
724 until you reach the Mount Sylvan community. Here, turn east on Texas
110 until you come to the intersection with Farm Road 849, which will carry you
into Lindale, which dates back to l875 when it became
a stop on the railroad. Near the town is the old Steen Saline, which employed
some 3,000 men during the Civil War to furnish salt for the Confederacy. From
Lindale, pick up U.S. 69 and return to Tyler.
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The Blackstone Building today houses the Tyler Chamber of Commerce
Photo by
John Troesser, 5-02 | |
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| For meals during your
drive, we recommend a couple of Tyler eateries. The Hoffbrau, located on East
Fifth Street not far from Tyler Junior College, serves an excellent pan-fried
steak in a rustic atmosphere. Liang's, located in a shopping center at the intersection
of Loop 323 and Texas 110, serves some of the finest Chinese food in East
Texas. |
(For additional information about places found on this Sunday Drive, contact the
Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce, 407 North Broadway, Tyler, TX 75710, telephone
214/592-1661.)
March 2000
THE
EAST TEXAS SUNDAY DRIVE BOOK
Excerpt by permission of author Mr.
Bob Bowman.
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Tyler's Native
Sons Casablanca’s
East Texan
by Bob Bowman
Dooley Wilson played the piano player who sang “As Time
Goes By,” in the classic film Casablanca. An African-American, Wilson was born
as Arthur Wilson on April 3, 1886, in Tyler. more |
| | A
rose garden in Tyler
Postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/
~txgenweb// postcards/Index.html
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| | The
Federal Courthouse in Tyler
TE Photo, 5-02 | |
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Tyler
Texas Forum
Subject:
Tyler Azalea Trails
We drove down to Tyler Texas
Sunday to see the homes and yards along the Tyler Azalea Trails. The trails wind
through old neighborhoods south of downtown. The homes and yards are beautiful.
They also had young ladies, dressed in Victorian period attire, greeting passersby.
- Sam Fenstermacher,
March 29, 2006
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