Cuafrician

Legal recognition of Tyler was initiated by an act of the state legislature on April 11, 1846. Texas created Smith County and authorized a county seat. The first plat designated a 28-block town site centered by a main square, located within a 100-acre tract acquired by Smith County on February 6, 1847. The new town was named for President John Tyler, who advocated for annexation of Texas by the United States. A log building on the north side of the square functioned as courthouse and public meeting hall until it was displaced by a brick courthouse in 1852.