Tyler’s firsts, filed one to a card

No. 37 of 165 · 1870s

No. 37

RAILROADS — TYLER TAPThe Governor Hubbard brings in the Tyler Tap’s first trainA locally backed, narrow-gauge line to Ferguson, now Big Sandy.

BEGINNINGOctober 1, 18771. Tyler Tap Railroad. 2. St. Louis Southwestern Railway. I. Title.

The county’s first newspaper, the Tyler Tap’s first train, the first woman mayor: 165 starts in Tyler, Texas, from 1846 to 2025, each typed on its own card.

Clipped to the cards

All 23 cards with a picture

No. 8
TYLER (TEX.) — PLAN
Commissioners lay out the town around a square
A 100-acre site is bought for $150 and laid out in 28 blocks.
BEGINNINGFebruary 6, 18471. Tyler (Tex.)--History. 2. Squares--Texas--Tyler. I. Title.
The square on Trade Day, April 10, 1916, with the domed courthouse.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).
No. 111
BARBERS — EDUCATION — TYLER
Tyler Barber College, called the country’s first for African Americans
Henry Miller Morgan’s school, 212 East Erwin Street.
CLAIMED FIRST1934, sources differper the downtown nomination1. Tyler Barber College. 2. Morgan, Henry Miller. I. Title.
“Tyler Barber College Chain, interior view of our practice shop,” a linen postcard published by East Texas Engraving Co., Tyler.Boston Public Library, Tichnor Brothers Collection, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
No. 23
PRISONERS OF WAR — CAMP FORD
Camp Ford becomes a prison camp
A Confederate camp four miles northeast of Tyler.
BEGINNINGJuly 21, 18631. Camp Ford (Tex.). 2. United States--History--Civil War, 1861–1865--Prisoners and prisons. I. Title.
Camp Ford, from sketches by James S. McClain, “a prisoner of war for 13 months”: the hospital, the headquarters, a cabin, and the stockade from the west and the south. Lithograph, 1865.Camp Ford, Texas. Lithograph by Krebs & Bro., Pittsburgh, from sketches by Jas. S. McClain, 1865. Public domain; scan via Wikimedia Commons.

The drawer, decade by decade

Every card, in date order

1840s11 cards
- 1846 Smith County’s commissioners’ court meets for the first time, First
- 1846 Smith County holds its first election, First
1850s11 cards
- 1850 Tyler’s oldest recorded school: four boys, west of town, First
- 1851 The Tyler Telegraph, the county’s first newspaper, First
1860s4 cards
- 1863 Camp Ford becomes a prison camp, Beginning
- 1866 Missionary work begins what becomes Christ Episcopal Church, Beginning
1870s13 cards
- 1870 Bonner and Williams, Tyler’s first bank, First
- 1877 The Governor Hubbard brings in the Tyler Tap’s first train, Beginning
1880s19 cards
- 1880 Tyler’s Catholics become a parish, Beginning
- 1888 West End Negro School, Tyler’s first public school for Black children, First
1890s12 cards
- 1891 Horace Chilton, Texas’ first native-born U.S. senator, First
- 1891 A brick church called the first in Texas built by Black Texans, Claimed first
1900s12 cards
- 1900 The Tyler Chamber of Commerce is created, Beginning
- 1906 W. C. Stallings, the nation’s first agent for a single county, First
1910s8 cards
- 1910 The city runs a public hospital, Beginning
- 1913 Tyler Traction runs its first streetcar, to the fair, Beginning
1920s11 cards
- 1924 Citizens National Bank builds Tyler’s first “skyscraper”, First
- 1928 The fair’s first “Colored Day,” after a petition, First
1930s19 cards
- 1934 Tyler Barber College, called the country’s first for African Americans, Claimed first
- 1937 Mother Frances Hospital opens a day early, Beginning
1940s14 cards
- 1940 The Ella Reid Library, once the Negro Public Library, Beginning
- 1949 Bergfeld Center, called Tyler’s first suburban shopping center, Claimed first
1950s5 cards
- 1951 Tyler Civic Theatre opens a building for theatre in the round, Claimed first
- 1955 Elvis Presley plays the Mayfair Club, Beginning
1960s1 card
- 1960s Downtown trade declines for the first time, First
1970s5 cards
- 1970 Judge Justice rules that Texas must desegregate its schools, Beginning
- 1977 Plyler v. Doe begins in Tyler, Beginning
1980s2 cards
- 1982 Andrew Melontree Sr., the county’s first Black commissioner, Claimed first
- 1985 Adopt-a-Highway starts in Tyler, First
1990s2 cards
- 1995 Herb Hayter, the police department’s first minority supervisor, First
- 1999 Charnwood becomes Tyler’s first National Register historic district, First
2000s3 cards
- 2003 JoAnn Hampton, in her words the first Black woman commissioner, Claimed first
- 2008 Barbara Bass, Tyler’s first woman mayor, First
2010s1 card
- 2011 Stanley’s neon sign, called the first in Tyler to get a marker, Claimed first
2020s3 cards
- 2022 Viva La Rosa brings a quinceañera float to the Rose Parade, Beginning
- 2023 The UT Tyler School of Medicine seats its first class, First
n.d. (undated)9 cards
- n.d. Bethlehem First Baptist, Tyler’s first Black Baptist congregation, First
- n.d. McDonald Lorance, Tyler’s first mayor, First

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No. 110

ROSE FESTIVALS — TEXAS — TYLER

The first rose festival opens in Tyler

Organized in six weeks, with a parade and a Rose Queen.

FIRSTOctober 11, 19331. Texas Rose Festival--History. 2. Festivals--Texas--Tyler. I. Title.

Tyler’s firsts, filed one to a card

Commissioners lay out the town around a square

Tyler Barber College, called the country’s first for African Americans

Camp Ford becomes a prison camp

Send a card on