Smith County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 233,479. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

. Smith County is named for James Smith, a general during the Texas Revolution. Smith County is part of the Tyler metropolitan statistical area and the

Tyler–Jacksonville combined statistical area The Tyler–Jacksonville combined statistical area is made up of two counties in East Texas. The statistical area consists of the Tyler metropolitan statistical area and the Jacksonville micropolitan statistical area. As of the 2000 census, the ...

History

For thousands of years, indigenous peoples occupied this area of present-day Texas. The first known inhabitants of the area now known as Smith County were the

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

Indians, who were recorded here until 1819. That year, a band of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

s, led by The Bowl (also known as Chief Bowles), migrated from Georgia and settled in what are now Smith and Rusk Counties. The Treaty of Bowles Village on February 23, 1836, between the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

and the Cherokee and 12 affiliated tribes, gave all of Smith and Cherokees Counties, as well as parts of western Rusk County, southern Gregg (formed from Rusk County in 1873) along with southeastern Van Zandt Counties to the tribes. Native Americans remained on these lands until the Cherokee War in the summer of 1839, as part of conflicts with Native Americans in Texas. The Cherokees were driven out of Smith County, as others of their kin were forced from the Southeast United States during

Indian Removal Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a de ...

. After 1845, some Cherokees returned when Benjamin Franklin Thompson, a white man married to a Cherokee, purchased 10,000 acres of land in Rusk County. The

Mount Tabor Indian Community The Mount Tabor Indian Community (also Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands of the Mount Tabor Indian Community) is a cultural heritage group located in Rusk County, Texas. There was a historical Mount Tabor Indian Community dating from the 19th c ...

developed here, some six miles south of present-day Kilgore. The community later grew and incorporated areas near Overton, Arp, and

Troup, Texas Troup is a city in Smith and Cherokee Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Its population was 2,006 at the 2020 census. Troup lies in two counties and two core-based statistical areas. The Smith County portion of the city is part of the Tyler metr ...

. In July 1846, Smith County separated from the Nacogdoches District and was named for James Smith, a general of the Texas Revolution. At this time, Tyler was designated as the county seat. Camp Fanin, A World War II US army replacement training facility was located in the area known as Owentown, northeast of Tyler along US Hwy 271. Many of its original buildings still exist.

Camp Ford Camp Ford was a POW camp near Tyler, Texas, during the American Civil War. It was the largest Confederate-run prison west of the Mississippi.

was the largest Confederate prisoner-of-war camp west of the Mississippi River during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Here, Sheriff Jim Reed of Collin County and Judge McReynolds, former chief justice of the district, were seized and lynched by "Regulators". The original site of the camp stockade is now a public historic park, owned by Smith County, and managed by the Smith County Historical Society. The park contains a kiosk, a paved trail, interpretive signage, a cabin reconstruction, and a picnic area. It is located on Highway 271, 0.8 miles north of Loop 323.

20th century to present

The Smith County Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded in 1959 by individuals and business firms dedicated to discovering, collecting, and preserving data, records, and other items relating to the history of Smith County. More information can be found at the Smith County Historical Society Website.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (3.0%) are covered by water. The county infrastructure includes some of two-lane county road.

Major highways

Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with Interstate 10, I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with Interstate 95, I-95 in Flo ...

* U.S. Highway 69 *

U.S. Highway 80 U.S. Route 80 or U.S. Highway 80 (US 80) is a major east–west United States Numbered Highway in the Southern United States, much of which was once part of the early auto trail known as the Dixie Overland Highway. As the "0" in the rou ...

U.S. Highway 271 U.S. Route 271 (US 271, US-271) is a north–south United States highway. Never a long highway, it went from bi-state route (Arkansas and Oklahoma) to a tri-state route (Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas). Its southern terminus is in Tyler, ...

* State Highway 31 * State Highway 57 * State Highway 64 * State Highway 110 * State Highway 135 * State Highway 155 * Loop 49 * Loop 323

Adjacent counties

* Wood County (north) * Upshur County (northeast) * Gregg County (east) * Rusk County (southeast) *

Cherokee County Cherokee County is the name of eight counties in the United States: * Cherokee County, Alabama * Cherokee County, Georgia * Cherokee County, Iowa * Cherokee County, Kansas * Cherokee County, North Carolina * Cherokee County, Oklahoma * Cherokee Co ...

(south) * Henderson County (southwest) *

Van Zandt County Van Zandt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas, in the northeastern part of the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 59,541. Its county seat is Canton. The county is named for Isaac Van Zandt (1813–1847), a mem ...

(northwest)

Communities

Cities

* Arp * Hideaway * Lindale * New Chapel Hill * Noonday * Overton (mostly in Rusk County) * Troup (small part in

) *

(county seat) *

Whitehouse Whitehouse may refer to: People * Charles S. Whitehouse (1921-2001), American diplomat * Cornelius Whitehouse (1796–1883), English engineer and inventor * E. Sheldon Whitehouse (1883-1965), American diplomat * Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993), ...

Towns

* Bullard (small part in

) * Winona

Census-designated place

* Emerald Bay

Unincorporated communities

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

* Bascom *

Blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...

Bostick Bostick is a surname, a variation of the English surname ''Bostock''. It may refer to: *Akeem Bostick (born 1995), American minor league baseball player *Brandon Bostick (born 1989), American National Football League player *Chris Bostick (born 19 ...

* Browning * Carroll * Copeland * Dogwood City * Elberta *

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

* Garden Valley * Gresham * Jamestown * Lee Spring * Midway * Mount Sylvan * New Harmony * New Hope *

Omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...

* Owentown * Pine Springs * Pine Trail Estates * Red Springs * Salem *

Sand Flat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

* Shady Grove * Sinclair City * Starrville *

Swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

* Teaselville * Thedford * Walnut Grove * Waters Bluff * Wood Springs * Wright City

Ghost towns

Burning Bush The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb. According to the bib ...

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

* Utica

Demographics

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' In the 2010 U.S. census, Smith County had a population of 209,714, up from its 1850 population of 4,292. By the 2020 census, its population increased to 233,479. Among its population in 2010, the racial and ethnic makeup was 62.11%

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...

, 17.74% Black or African American, 0.35% American Indian or

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...

, 1.22%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

alone, 0.03%

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

or other

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.11% some other race, 3.47%

multiracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

, and 17.21%

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for example, by the United States ...

of any race. In 2020, its racial and ethnic makeup was 57.59% non-Hispanic white, 16.28% Black or African American, 0.32% American Indian or Alaska Native, 1.77% Asian alone, 0.03% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 0.30% some other race, 3.47% multiracial and 20.25% Hispanic or Latino of any race; 2020's census statistics reflected state and nationwide demographic trends of greater diversification within the U.S. overall. At the 2021

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

, Smith County had a median household income of $63,115; its mean household income was $86,661. Among the owner-occupied housing units of the county, the median value was $169,600, and there was a median real estate tax of $2,634. Owner-occupied housing units without a mortgage had a median value of $173,700 and median real estate tax of $2,203. Throughout the county, an estimated 12.51% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.

Politics

Conservative Whites in Smith County began to ally with the Republican Party in 1952, also making it one of three East Texas counties, along with Panola and Gregg, to vote for

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, when native son Democratic President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

won re-election. At that time, most Blacks and Latinos in the county were still disenfranchised due to the state's discriminatory use of certain barriers. The last Democrat to carry Smith County was incumbent President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

in 1948.The Political Graveyard
Smith County, Texas
/ref> No Democrat has gained 30% of the county's vote in the past six elections. The last Democrat to gain more than 40% was

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

from Georgia in 1976. Smith County is represented in the Texas House of Representatives by

Matt Schaefer Matthew R. Schaefer (born February 11, 1976) is an American attorney and politician serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives for the 6th district. A Republican, Schaefer is assigned to the Defense & Veterans' Affairs and Urban Af ...

(R) of Tyler and the Texas Senate by Senator

Bryan Hughes Bryan Hughes (born 19 June 1976) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder from 1994 to 2015, notably Premier League for Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic and Hull City as well as featuring ...

(R). Its U.S. Representative is

Louie Gohmert Louis Buller Gohmert Jr. (; born August 18, 1953) is an American attorney, politician, and former jurist serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from Texas's Texas's 1st congressional district, 1st congressiona ...

(R).

Government and infrastructure

The county is governed by a Commissioners Court, made up of four members elected from

single-member districts A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vot ...

and a county judge elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

. Smith County ranks 10th in the State of Texas for road miles. The county has 1,170 miles – about the distance from Tyler, Texas to Paradise, Nevada -- of roads it maintains. The Smith County Road & Bridge Department maintains the county's bridges and roads, including mowing the rights of way. The $39.5 million Smith County Road Bond passed with 73% of the vote on November 7, 2017. The issuance of bonds was for road and bridge construction and major improvements. Road work around the county is well underway. For a list of road projects in the two-phase, six-year bond program, visit www.smith-county.com.

Officials

Twenty-eight elected officials serve Smith County citizens (county auditor is not an elected position):

Education

These school districts serve school-aged children in Smith County: *

Arp Independent School District Arp Independent School District is a public school district based in Arp, Texas, Arp, Texas (United States, USA). Finances As of the 2010-2011 school year, the appraised valuation of property in the district was $369,413,000. The maintenance ta ...

* Bullard Independent School District (also partially in

) * Chapel Hill Independent School District * Gladewater Independent School District (also partially in Gregg County and Upshur County) * Lindale Independent School District (also partially in

) * Troup Independent School District (also partially in Cherokee County) * Tyler Independent School District * Van Independent School District (also partially in Van Zandt County) * Whitehouse Independent School District * Winona Independent School District Those wishing to attend institutions of higher learning in the area can attend: * Tyler Junior College * Texas College * University of Texas at Tyler
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler

Media

Smith County is part of the

/Longview, Texas, Longview/Jacksonville, Texas, Jacksonville DMA. Local media outlets are: KLTV-TV, KLTV, KTRE-TV, KYTX-TV, KFXK-TV, KCEB-TV, and KETK-TV. KTBB (AM), KTBB, an AM radio station based in Tyler, provides a news-talk format to the area. The daily ''Tyler Morning Telegraph'' is the primary newspaper in the county, based in Tyler. Coverage of the area can also be found in the ''Longview News-Journal'', published in Longview, Texas, Longview, in Gregg County.

References

External links

Smith County official website

Smith County Historical Society
{{coord, 32.38, -95.27, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 Smith County, Texas, 1846 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1846