is the county seat of
Smith County in
East Texas ; it lies roughly halfway between
Dallas and
Shreveport . The city is named for President
John Tyler in recognition of his support for
Texas ' admission to the
United States . As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 83,650.
Tyler is sometimes referred to as the Rose Capital of America because of its role in the
Rose -growing industry; about 20% of commercial rose bushes produced in the U.S. are grown in Tyler and
Smith County and more than half of the rose bushes are packaged and shipped from the area. It boasts the nation's largest municipal rose garden and hosts the
Texas Rose Festival each
October .
In
1985 , the international Adopt-a-Highway movement originated in Tyler when, after appeals by local
Texas Department Of Transportation officials, the local
Civitan chapter adopted a 2-mile (3-km) stretch of
U.S. Highway 69 .
Tyler is home to the
Caldwell Zoo .
The city's main newspaper is the ''
Tyler Morning Telegraph ''.
Tyler is located at 32°20'3" North, 95°17'60" West (32.334249, -95.299927).
According to the
United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 128.0
Km&2 (49.4
Mi&2 ). 127.7 km&
2 (49.3 mi&
2) of it is land and 0.3 km&
2 (0.1 mi&
2) of it is water. The total area is 0.22% water.
As of the
Census of 2000, there were 83,650 people, 32,525 households, and 21,076 families residing in the city. The
Population Density was 655.1/km&
2 (1,696/mi&
2). There were 35,337 housing units at an average density of 276/km&
2 (716/mi&
2). The racial makeup of the city was 61.92%
White , 26%
African American] Native American (U.S. Census) ,
Asian ,
Pacific Islander , 8.46% from
Other Races , and 1.65% from two or more races. 15.82% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 32,525 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were
Married Couples living together, 14% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3
In the city the population was spread out with 26% under the age of 18, 11.7% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 20% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 88 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,163, and the median income for a family was $43,618. Males had a median income of $31,728 versus $22,397 for females. The
Per Capita Income for the city was $20,184. 16.8% of the population and 13.0% of families were below the
Poverty Line . 23.3% of those under the age of 18 and 12.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
In addition to its role in the rose-growing industry, Tyler is the headquarters for Brookshire Grocery Co. (
website ), which operates Brookshire's and Super 1 Foods supermarkets in four states. The company's main distribution center is located here, as is SouthWest Foods, a subsidiary that produces dairy products.
The manufacturing sector includes:
Also produced in Tyler are John Soules Foods' fajita and other meat products; Distant Lands Coffee Roasters coffee (
website ); and Tyler Candle Co. jar candles, which are known for their strong fragrance.
The location of the
2005 HGTV Dream Home on nearby Lake Tyler boosted tourism and interest in the community. The custom-designed, fully furnished home and its adjacent dock house have a combined heated and cooled area of about 6,500 square feet (600 m&
2).
via
American Eagle and to
Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport via
Colgan Air Continental Connection .
The city's Tyler Transit (
website ) buses run daily, excluding Sundays and holidays.
Greyhound Lines bus service is available through a downtown terminal.
Tyler's higher education institutions include the .
Public primary and secondary education for much of the city is provided by the and
Advance Placement programmes.
Small sections of southeast Tyler are served by the
Whitehouse Independent School District .
Some sections in east Tyler are served by the
Chapel Hill Independent School District .
The Tyler
Catholic School System of the
Catholic Diocese Of Tyler consists of St. Gregory Elementary (
website ) and Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Middle/High School (
website ).
There are several other private schools, including Grace Community School (
website ), All Saints
Episcopal School (
website ), and Good Shepherd School (
website ).
