West End Negro School, Tyler’s first public school for Black children
Tyler’s first public school for African Americans, the wood-frame West End Negro School at Herndon and Front streets, was paid for with a $6,000 bond issue after a committee of Black residents asked for it.
It was the first school in Smith County for African Americans built with public money.
Note
The same document elsewhere calls it “the 1882 West End Negro School”; 1888 is the year it gives where it describes the school in detail.
Sources
- National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form: Historic and Architectural Resources of Tyler, Texas (Diane E. Williams, 2000; THC Atlas)atlas.thc.texas.gov
Tyler's first public school for African Americans was the wood frame West End Negro School, completed in 1888 with a school bond issue of $6,000
This school came about when a committee of African Americans requested a school and additional teachers
A lot was purchased, not in north Tyler as had been discussed in 1886, but at Herndon and Front Street
Checked October 15, 2026. How the cards are filed