Smith County, Texas


Smith County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 233,479. Its county seat is Tyler. 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.

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 Indians, who were recorded here until 1819. That year, a band of Cherokee, led by their chief, "The Bowl", 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 and the Cherokee and 12 affiliated tribes, gave all of Smith and Cherokee counties, as well as parts of western Rusk County, southern Gregg and 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 European-American conflicts with Native Americans in Texas. The Cherokee were driven out of Smith County. In this period, Cherokee and other Native American nations were forced from the Southeast United States to west of the Mississippi River to Indian Territory during Indian Removal.
After 1845, some Cherokee returned when Benjamin Franklin Thompson, a white man married to a Cherokee, purchased 10,000 acres of land in Rusk County and allowed them to settle. The Mount Tabor Indian Community developed here, some six miles south of present-day Kilgore. The community later grew and incorporated areas near Overton, Arp, and Troup, Texas.
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.
During the American Civil War, Camp Ford was the largest Confederate prisoner-of-war camp west of the Mississippi River. 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, as such it is exempted from making any County property tax contribution, and is managed by the Smith County Historical Society. The park contains a kiosk, a paved trail, interpretive signage, a cabin reconstruction, and a picnic area. To date, it has never been the site of a paid venue, nor public event. It is located on Highway 271, 0.8 miles north of Loop 323.

20th century to present

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.
The Smith County Historical Society, a 501 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 county has a total area of, of which are land and are covered by water.
The county infrastructure includes some of two-lane county road.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated place

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 118,598130,246134,45267.88%62.11%57.59%
Black or African American alone 33,12937,19538,00318.96%17.74%16.28%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 5627347460.32%0.35%0.32%
Asian alone 1,2012,5504,1290.69%1.22%1.77%
Pacific Islander alone 2963770.02%0.03%0.03%
Race and ethnicity in [the United States census|Other race] alone 1192256950.07%0.11%0.30%
Mixed race or Multiracial 1,5472,6138,0960.89%1.25%3.47%
Hispanic or Latino 19,52136,08847,28111.17%17.21%20.25%
Total174,706209,714233,479100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 233,479. The median age was 37.5 years, with 24.0% of residents under the age of 18 and 17.9% aged 65 or older. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.4 males age 18 and over.
As of the 2020 census, the racial makeup of the county was 61.9% White, 16.5% Black or African American, 0.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.8% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 9.4% from some other race, and 9.6% from two or more races; Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 20.3% of the population.
As of the 2020 census, 65.1% of residents lived in urban areas while 34.9% lived in rural areas.
As of the 2020 census, there were 88,567 households in the county, of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18; 49.4% were married couples, 16.6% were male householders without a spouse or partner, and 28.9% were female householders without a spouse or partner. About 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 or older.
As of the 2020 census, there were 97,539 housing units, of which 9.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 64.9% were owner-occupied and 35.1% were renter-occupied; the homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.0%.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, Smith County had a population of 209,714, up from its 1850 population of 4,292. Among its 2010 population, the racial and ethnic makeup was 62.11% non-Hispanic white, 17.74% Black or African American, 0.35% American Indian or Alaska Native, 1.22% Asian alone, 0.03% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 0.11% some other race, 3.47% multiracial, and 17.21% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

American Community Survey

At the 2021 American Community Survey, 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

Smith County is a stronghold of the Republican Party. In presidential elections, it has voted for the Republican candidate each time since 1952, and Democratic Party candidates have only managed 40 percent of the county's vote four times over that time, the most recent being Jimmy Carter in 1976. From 2000 onward, no Democrat has managed even 30 percent of the county's vote.
Smith County was one of the first areas of Texas to break off from a Solid South voting pattern. The last Democrat to carry Smith County was incumbent President Harry S. Truman in 1948. The county's conservative white voters began splitting their tickets as early as the next election, when it swung from a 29-point win for Truman to a 17-point win for Dwight Eisenhower. In 1964, it rejected Democratic President and Texas native Lyndon B. Johnson in favor of Barry Goldwater, albeit by fewer than 500 votes. It was one of three East Texas counties, along with Panola and Gregg, to vote for Goldwater. At that time, most Blacks and Latinos in the county were still disenfranchised due to the state's discriminatory use of certain barriers.
Smith County is represented in the Texas House of Representatives by Matt Schaefer of Tyler and the Texas Senate by Senator Bryan Hughes. Its U.S. Representative is Nathaniel Moran.

Government and infrastructure

The county is governed by a Commissioners Court, made up of four members elected from single-member districts and a county judge elected at-large.
Smith County has the tenth most road miles of any county in the state of Texas, with 1,170 – about the distance from Tyler, Texas to Paradise, Nevada. 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 :
OfficialFunction
County judgeCounty administration and judicial jurisdiction
Commissioners County administration
SheriffSecurity and law enforcement
District attorneyLaw enforcement and criminal prosecution
Constables Law enforcement
Justices of the peace Judicial/legal jurisdiction
District clerkJudicial support to district courts
County clerkClerk of record for the county
County tax assessor-collectorCollector of property taxes and special fees
County treasurerCounty's chief banker
County court at law judges Judicial/Legal jurisdiction
District judges Judicial/legal jurisdiction

Education

These school districts serve school-aged children in Smith County:
Those wishing to attend institutions of higher learning in the area can attend:

Media

Smith County is part of the Tyler/Longview/Jacksonville DMA. Local media outlets are: KLTV, KTRE-TV, KYTX-TV, KFXK-TV, KCEB-TV, and KETK-TV.
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, in Gregg County.