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Tyler, Texasby
Robert E. Reed Jr.
New volume in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series. |
Arcadia Publishing
has four or five series of books – all dealing with the photographic histories
of various towns and cities across the country. History through postcards, Sports,
Black history, Aviation, Universities, and the Images of America series.
They
publish hundreds of titles each year and to date, they have completed over 4,000
volumes. If they don’t have a book on your hometown, they almost certainly has
a nearby town or a town where you went to college, were stationed in the military
or simply were always curious about.
Each book is a uniform size and
format. Usually they are around 120 pages with two photos to each page. The subjects
range from the familiar to the bizarre. Chosen by the author, they are frequently
the kind of photos that one doesn’t find in traditional history books.
Storeowners, grand openings, long-forgotten modes of transportation, promotional
photos and visiting celebrities create a local historical smorgasbord.
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| First
Black Tyler Police Officers, December 1955
Left to Right: W. Houston, Alvin
Anderson, Willie Johnson Sr. and Ira Brown
Photo Courtesy Tyler Police Department |
Texas
currently has a dozen or so titles. Since the publication of these books depends
on a local author as well as a photographic collection, some of them overlap.
For example Weslaco has a
book as well as Hidalgo County.
Temple
joins the other towns of Brackettville
/ Fort Clark Springs, Del Rio,
Waxahachie, and Weslaco,
and the counties of Cherokee,
Hidalgo County, and Wood. San Antonio has two volumes – both by our Conrtibuting
Editor Mel Brown (A Postcard History of
San Antonio and Aviation in San Antonio).
Both San Antonio Volumes are
now out of print. Copies are published in a limited quantity so it’s a good idea
to order early.
The
Tyler volume covers the city from its beginning through the 1960s. From Camp Ford,
a Confederate Prisoner of War Camp to Dorothy Lamour’s visit to WWII’s Camp
Fannin. Also included are photos of the town trolley, a circus parade around
the town square, the Fruit Palace, the East Texas State Fair, an aerial view of
the dismantling of the former courthouse (perhaps the only photo of its type in
Texas), the East Texas Rose Fair and Parade and the Tyler “Kid” Band – comprised
entirely of children.
And then there was the somewhat embarrassing incident
where the town lake was drained by a break in the dam – leaving boats hanging
from the pier and a driving platform looking down at a spongy desert.
The author provides enough detail so that the town instantly becomes familiar
– even to those who have never visited Tyler.
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North
Spring Street, 1946
The Arcadia Theater(left) showcased the first talking
pictures in Tyler in February of 1929.
Photo Courtesy Smith County Historical
Society
See Texas Theatres
| Tyler, Texas
|
View
of a circus parade circling the town square c. 1904 taken from the roof of the
Smith County Courthouse. Photo Courtesy Smith County Historical Society
See
Smith County
Courthouse | Tyler,
Texas |
| East
Side of the Smith County Courthouse c. 1876
"A clock tower rising 65
feet above the ground was also added, though no clock was ever installed."
Photo Courtesy Smith County Historic Society
See Smith
County Courthouse | Tyler,
Texas |
In
what may be the only photo of its kind, the previous Smith County courthouse retains
its dignity even while being dismantled in front of its replacement in 1955.
Photo Courtesy Smith County Historical Society
See Smith
County Courthouse | Tyler,
Texas |
The
Mexican Fourth Cavalry Band (Unmounted) added to the festivities of the Second
Annual Exposition of the Texas Fruit Palace. The lady in white was popular local
vocalist Minnie Jester.
Photo Courtesy Smith County Historical Society |
The
Tyler Kid Band, September 1909
"Not only did they perform locally, but
they were also very popular at Confederate veteran reunions all across the South.
Due to aging, in 1916 the group became the Tyler Municipal Band."
Photo
Courtest Smith County Historical Society
See Texas
Music |
"Anywhere
for a nickel" - the motto of the Tyler Tractrion Company
Streetcar above
is on North Bois d'Arc Avenue, festooned with a banner for a Presbyterian Sunday
School picnic. The line operated from 1913 - 1917.
Photo Courtesy Smith County
Historical Society |
Tyler's
Fire Department on the job: Elk's Club Fire, June 27, 1939
Photo Courtesy
Smith County Historical Society |
| SRO
on opening night of the Neil-Simpson Drug Store #2
October 27th, 1938
Photo Courtesy Smith County Historical Society |
| Jimmie's
Cafe ("The Original") c. 1950
Natty owner James W. Prickett stands
between two unidentified men that may be his sons.
Photo Courtesy Smith County
Historical Society |
The
St. Louis Southwestern Railroad shops, roundhouse and turntable, 1941.
Photo
Coutesy Smith County Historical Society
See Texas
Railroads | Tyler,
Texas |
This
single interurban car shuttled between Lufkin
and Tyler, making
two round trips daily. "The front third contained the power unit, the middle
contained a post office, and the back was a passenger area." - Author Robert
E. Reed Jr.
Photo Courtesy Smith County Historical Society
See Texas
Railroads | Tyler,
Texas |
| The
day the lake went dry:
A breach in the Tyler State Park's earthen dam sent
the contents of the lake into the Sabine River on September 12, 1963.
Photo
Courtesy Smith County Historical Society
See Tyler,
Texas | More Vintage Photos
|
| Take
advantage of a too-good-to-be-true offer.
Local historians and / or curators
should consider taking Arcadia up on their offer to publish these wonderful photographic
town histories.
The books can provide a fund-raising venue for museums
and many out-of-print volumes end up selling for many times their purchase price.
Arcadia
provides all the know-how and the turn-around time from submission to publication
is amazingly short. Visit
their site at: www.arcadiapublishing.com
See Tyler,
Texas
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