Tyler, Then and Now
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1957: Loop 323

A state loop around Tyler, designated in 1957.

Rail and road

19.7 miles, roughly, around Tyler; designated October 30, 19571

What the sources put on the map by 1957, over today’s streets.Under it: USGS map, 1948, the 1:62,500 quadrangle, around Tyler. U.S. Geological Survey 1:62,500-scale Quadrangle for Tyler, TX 1948 courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

The record

  1. October 30, 1957

    TxDOT designates Loop 323, the roughly 19.7-mile state loop around Tyler, from what had been FM 1803.1

  2. Late 1950s

    East Southeast Loop 323, built in the 1950s, opens land along its route to new subdivisions. A ‘distributor’ loop to carry traffic around downtown had been a major recommendation of the city plans.2

Notes

  1. TxDOT highway designation history: State Loop 323 (dot.state.tx.us); Tyler Texas Online: Getting around Tyler (tylertexasonline.com). Research notes

  2. National Register nomination, Pollard Residential Historic District (2026) (atlas.thc.texas.gov). Research notes

About this plate

  • The loop on the map is OpenStreetMap’s geometry for Loop 323 as it is today. The 1957 route is not in our sources; the 1948 map under the plate is from before the loop.
  • Under the plate, the USGS map, 1948 (the 1:62,500 quadrangle, around Tyler). It is placed by the survey's own coordinates, moved by the mean offset of 6 street crossings that still exist; checked against them, it is off by about 11 m downtown. How the old maps are placed.
  • The faint linework is today’s map, from OpenStreetMap. How the map is made.