In this segment it was decided to provide our viewers with a very brief history of Tyler, TX, in conjunction with the establishment
and building up of the great John Tyler High School that spanned over 80 years of educating its student body. Every growth in the city
of Tyler was conjoined by a similar growth in its educational system, and especially the landmark John Tyler High School.
The original inhabitants of the area surrounding Tyler, Tx in the early 1800s were Caddo native Americans.
Texans slowly began migrating to the area and by 1846, Tyler was officially established as the seat of the
newly created Smith County. It was named after President John Tyler in recognition of his support for
admitting Texas to the United States. The first mayor was elected in 1848. The town of Tyler was
incorporated in 1850 with a very small population of about 1024.
The Tyler Morning Telegraph began publishing the following year and the Camp For Confederate-run prisoner
of war camp began operating during the American Civil War in 1863. The oil boom of the 1930's made Texas an
important national figure in the oil and gas industry and Tyler's population mushroomed to 28,000 by 1940. Today Tyler
is a major medical center for the health needs for all of east Texas and maintains important educational
leadership with Tyler Jr College and the University of Texas at Tyler.
Historical Pictures of Tyler The pictures below show Tyler
from different eras since its establishment. Most of you probably remember at least one or two of the pictures but we also
have provided many that go all the way back to your parents, and maybe even grandparents.
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There is no more information than that it is a Circus taking place in the downtown Tyler square
area in 1904. It is evident that explosive growth would grow the downtown area later as the oil industry flourished in the East Texas area.
The Durst-Bergfeld Center in Tyler, TX, was a late-19th-century commercial, Victorian-style structure featuring a prominent turret,
located on the southeast corner of South Spring Avenue and East Erwin Street. It was constructed in the early 1890s by by Julius A.
and Julius L. Bergfeld. This building also housed the Elks Club. It served as the original home of the
Bergfeld Loan & Trust Co., and later the Tyler Commercial Club (the predecessor to the Tyler Chamber of Commerce). A massive fire
on April 6, 1907, gutted the building, leaving only an empty brick shell.
The historic Arcadia Theater in downtown Tyler, TX,
opened in the late 1920s as a premier vaudeville and silent movie venue before becoming the first in the city to
play "talkies" in February 1929. Located on N Spring St, it served as a downtown landmark for decades before being
repurposed and then demolished for the construction of the new Smith County Courthouse in 2024.
The name of the movie on the outside display suggests the picture was taken around December of 1945.
This is the Queen Float of the 1939 Rose Parade, an established annual tradition, having grown from its inception in October, 1933. The
1939 festival featured Dorothy Bell as the Queen of the Rose Festival. 1939 was a good year for Tyler in that the historic
Goodman-LeGrand House and Museum was bequeathed to the City of Tyler by Sallie Goodman upon her death in 1939.
The Carl's Brown Derby chain was actually founded in 1926 out of Los Angeles, California, and became an iconic Hollywood restaurant chain known for its distinctive
hat-shaped architecture and as the birthplace of the Cobb Salad. Known as the Brown Derby Drive-In in Tyler, it opened in 1935 and
operated as a unique dining experience through late 1953. It offered car-hop service and inside dining, as well
as a jukebox at each table. The hat building was demolished in 1958.
In the early 1900s, Tyler transitioned from a late-1800s mule-powered streetcar system to an electric trolley system,
providing essential, convenient, and entertaining public transit in the downtown area. These streetcars operated
alongside industrial rail, such as the Cotton Belt Railraod, which connected Tyler to regional transport. Naturally the rise of automobiles for transportation led to the closure of the trolleys in the 1920s.
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