Tyler, Then and Now
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Every year on the ruler

From a 100-acre site laid out in 1847 to a downtown being rebuilt now, in six eras. Each year has its own page and its own plate, over the old map of its time where there is one.

  1. 1847
  2. 1852
  3. 1859
  4. 1863
  5. 1873
  6. 1881
  7. 1888
  8. 1890
  9. 1894
  10. 1904
  11. 1905
  12. 1906
  13. 1910
  14. 1918
  15. 1920
  16. 1926
  17. 1930
  18. 1934
  19. 1938
  20. 1949
  21. 1955
  22. 1957
  23. 1960
  24. 1971
  25. 1977
  26. 1999
  27. 2020
  28. 2025
  29. 2026

1846–1872

A county seat

The plat around a square, the first courthouses, a house on Broadway, and the Civil War’s camp and ordnance plant.

Camp Ford, Texas: lithograph from sketches by Jas. S. McClain, a prisoner of war for 13 months (hospital, Col. R. R. Brown's headquarters, Capt. Braunfelter's cabin, west and south views of the stockade)
Camp Ford, Texas: a lithograph by Krebs & Bro. of Pittsburgh from sketches by Jas. S. McClain, “a prisoner of war for 13 months,” printed in the 1860s. The hospital, the headquarters, a cabin, and the stockade from the west and the south.Camp Ford, Texas. Lithograph by Krebs & Bro., Pittsburgh, from sketches by Jas. S. McClain, 1865. Public domain; scan via Wikimedia Commons.The originalPublic domain; digital file on Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1847 to –1850

    Twenty-eight blocks around a square

    A 100-acre site bought for $150 and laid out as a town.

  2. 1852 to –1858

    The brick courthouse

    Log courthouses, then one of brick in the middle of the square, in use until 1908.

  3. 1859

    Bonnie Castle on Broadway

    A house built in 1859; the city took ownership in 1940.

  4. 1863 to –1865

    Camp Ford

    Tyler in the Civil War: an ordnance plant and a prison camp.

1873–1905

The railroad town

A branch line and the Tyler Tap, the jail on Erwin Street, two churches that still stand, Texas College, the Carnegie Library, the depot.

Under the plate: the Sanborn maps of 1885, 1889, 1893, 1898 and 1902. Open 1885 on the ruler

United States Court House and Post Office, Tyler, Texas (built 1889), as pictured in a 1901 Treasury Department history
The U.S. Court House and Post Office at Tyler, built in 1889, as pictured in a Treasury Department history of federal buildings published in 1901.U.S. Treasury Department, A History of Public Buildings Under the Control of the Treasury Department (Washington: GPO, 1901). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.The originalPublic domain (U.S. government publication)

  1. 1873 to –1880

    The railroad

    A branch line from Troup, then the town’s own Tyler Tap, the start of the Cotton Belt.

  2. 1881 to –1916

    The jail on Erwin Street

    Built between 1880 and 1881 just east of the square; the county’s jail until 1916.

  3. 1888 to –1891

    St. James C.M.E.

    A wooden church of 1888 or 1889 on North Border Avenue, bricked about 1920.

  4. 1890 to –1935

    Marvin Methodist

    A brick church of 1890 that the downtown nomination calls its district’s oldest building.

  5. 1894 to –1936

    Texas College

    Founded in 1894 north of the city limits; annexed to the city in 1936.

  6. 1904 to –1934

    The Carnegie Library

    Tyler’s first public library, built by 1904 with a $15,000 Carnegie grant.

  7. 1905

    The Cotton Belt Depot

    The depot at 210 E. Oakwood St.: built by the railroad in 1905, given to the city in 1986 or 1988, reopened in 2003.

1906–1929

The square and its streets

A park on Bergfeld land, the courthouse in the middle of the square, a high school for Black students, Black Wall Street, a junior college.

Under the plate: the Sanborn maps of 1907, 1912, 1919 and 1928. Open 1907 on the ruler

Young Men's Bus. Club Trade Day, Tyler, Apr. 10, 1916
Young Men’s Business Club Trade Day, April 10, 1916: a crowd on the courthouse square. Panoramic photograph by Robert A. Denison.Robert A. Denison, photographer, "Young Men's Bus. Club Trade Day, Tyler, Apr. 10, 1916." Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Panoramic Photographs (pan 6a27240).The originalLibrary of Congress

  1. 1906 to –1913

    Bergfeld Park

    A plat, a deed with a deadline, and a purchase.

  2. 1910 to –1955

    The courthouse in the square

    Dedicated in 1910 in the middle of the square, where Broadway now runs; torn down in the 1950s.

  3. 1918 to –1970

    Emmett J. Scott High

    Tyler’s high school for Black students, from 1918 until it closed under the integration order in 1970.

  4. 1920 to –1934

    Black Wall Street

    Black-owned businesses on the 200 block of East Erwin Street and an alley called Wall.

  5. 1926

    Tyler Junior College

    Ninety-three students and nine faculty, at Tyler High School.

1930–1945

Oil

A discovery in Rusk County, towers downtown, a new federal building, and parks laid out white and ‘colored’.

Under the plate: the Sanborn map of 1938. Open 1938 on the ruler

Tyler Texas, rose capitol of the world
“Tyler Texas, rose capitol of the world”: downtown from the air on a linen postcard published by East Texas Engraving Co. of Tyler. The Boston Public Library dates its Tichnor cards 1930 to 1945.Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers Collection, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)The originalBoston Public Library

  1. 1930 to –1941

    Oil

    A discovery in Rusk County, and towers downtown: Tyler’s count of people climbs from 17,113 to 28,279.

    65.2% growth in Tyler’s population in the 1930s, to 28,279 by the 1940 census

  2. 1934 to –1976

    The federal building

    A federal building of 1934 on the site of the one it replaced, at West Ferguson and North Bois D’Arc.

  3. 1938 to –1952

    Rose Park and Lincoln Park

    A WPA garden, a stadium and a theater on the west side, and one of two ‘colored’ parks.

1946–1976

Out to the loop

Shopping centers, Broadway run through the square, Loop 323, annexation, a state college.

Under the plate: the USGS map of 1948. Open 1948 on the ruler

Bergfeld Shopping Center, Tyler, Texas
Bergfeld Shopping Center, drawn from the air on a linen postcard published by East Texas Engraving Co. of Tyler. The center opened in 1949.Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers Collection, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)The originalBoston Public Library

  1. 1949 to –1975

    The shopping centers

    Bergfeld Center on the old fairground in 1949, then a mall on South Broadway in 1975.

  2. 1955 to –1966

    Broadway through the square

    A new courthouse, Broadway run through the middle of the square, and a plaza on its western half.

  3. 1957

    Loop 323

    A state loop around Tyler, designated in 1957.

  4. 1960 to –1990

    Annexation

    Of 51,230 residents in 1960, 10,893 lived in areas annexed since 1950.

    10,893 of 51,230 residents in 1960 lived in areas annexed since 1950

  5. 1971 to –1979

    A state college and an art museum

    Tyler State College and the Tyler Museum of Art open the same year.

1977–2028

Courts, districts and a rebuilt square

A Supreme Court case that began in Tyler, eight historic districts, the 2020 count, and the downtown being rebuilt now.

Brick paving and storefronts on the downtown square
Brick paving and storefronts on the square, March 2016, before the rebuild.Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), via FlickrPaul Sableman

  1. 1977 to –1982

    Plyler v. Doe

    A tuition charge in Tyler’s schools, a class action filed in Tyler, and a Supreme Court decision in 1982.

  2. 1999 to –2026

    Historic districts

    Eight National Register historic districts, listed from 1999 to January 2026.

  3. 2020 to –2025

    The 2020 count

    105,995 people in the 2020 census, and an estimate of 113,723 five years on.

    113,723 residents, Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025

  4. 2025 to –2028

    The downtown rebuild

    A $25.6 million city-county rebuild of downtown’s streets, utilities and square.

  5. 2026

    Today, September 2026

    The same names, side by side: a grocery on the square in 1928, a groundbreaking in 2026.