187 of 254 Smith County Courthouse, Tyler, Texas. County Population 230,184
Smith County, Texas
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"The county comprises 932 square miles of the East Texas Timberlands region. The elevation ranges from 300 to 600 feet above mean sea level.
"George W. Bays, who arrived on the Neches Saline in 1823, became the first non-Indian settler. Though he left after the Fredonian Rebellion and later returned only briefly, others were moving into the area. Still, unrest prevented the development of any sizable white settlement. "Deteriorating relations with the Cherokees retarded settlement of the area until the Cherokee War of 1839 led to the removal of the tribe. "In July 1846 Smith County was marked off from the Nacogdoches District and named for Gen. James Smith, a hero of the Texas Revolution and a prominent military figure in the Republic of Texas. Tyler was designated as the county seat and has remained so." Vista K. McCroskey, "SMITH COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online "[Tyler], located near the geographic center of the county, was selected by a panel of commissioners appointed by the legislature and was named for President John Tyler in recognition of his support for admitting Texas to the United States. "Buoyed by the prosperity of the surrounding farms and plantations, Tyler quickly emerged as a leading shipping and commercial center for the region. Christopher Long, "TYLER, TX," Handbook of Texas Online I visited Smith County and photographed the courthouse in Tyler on July 13, 2013 and September 23, 2017. |
Smith County Courthouse 1876
Eugene T. Heiner, Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Smith County Courthouse 1910
Charles H. Page Jr., Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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Photograph circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT
Historic buildings lining E. Erwin Street, on the south side of the courthouse square
Smith County Courthouse 1954
Image courtesy courthousehistory.com
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The courthouse faces west, on N. Broadway Avenue
Architects and Engineers: Thomas Jameson & Merrill with E. Davis Wilcox
Refer to the Falls County courthouse, also designed by Arthur Thomas. |
The west façade of the courthouse, viewed from the City Square, in downtown Tyler
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The imposing front façade of the courthouse
The front porch on the west side of the courthouse
The building information is found on both the west and east facades of the courthouse
The view looking west from the courthouse entrance
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A detail of the courthouse facade
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The east façade is on N. Spring Avenue
The entrance on the east side of the courthouse
