Editing Tyler, Texas (section)

===Founding and Civil War (1846–1865)===
Legal recognition of Tyler was initiated by an act of the [[Texas Legislature|state legislature]] on April 11, 1846. The Texas government created Smith County and authorized a county seat. The first plat designated a 28-block town site centered by a main square within a {{cvt|100|acre|ha sqmi|adj=on}} tract acquired by Smith County on 6 February 1847. The new town was named for [[John Tyler|President John Tyler]], who advocated for the [[Texas annexation|annexation of Texas]] by the United States. A log building on the square's north side served as a courthouse and public meeting hall until a brick courthouse displaced it in {{year|1852}}. The City of Tyler was incorporated on January 29, 1850.

Early religious and social institutions included the First Baptist Church and a [[Marvin Methodist Episcopal Church, South|Methodist church]],<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://marvin.church/who-we-are/our-history/ | title=Our History | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201045909/https://marvin.church/who-we-are/our-history/ | archive-date=2023-02-01}}</ref> a [[Masonic lodge]] and an [[Odd Fellows|Odd Fellows lodge]], and Tyler's first newspaper.<ref name="hto">{{cite web |series=Handbook of Texas Online |first=Christopher |last=Long |title=TYLER, TX |access-date=November 3, 2018 |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hdt04 |date=June 15, 2010 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref> Though Tyler's early economy from {{year|1847}}–{{year|1873}} was based on agriculture, it was also well-diversified during this period. Logging was a second major industry, while complementary manufacturing included metalworking, milling wood, and leather tanning. As the seat of Smith County, the town also benefited from government activity.<ref>{{cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places Form: People's National Bank Building |access-date=November 3, 2018 |page=7 |series=Texas Historic Sites Atlas |url=https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/NR/pdfs/02000896/02000896.pdf |last=Williams |first=Diane Elizabeth |date=June 20, 2001}}</ref>

The local agricultural economy relied on [[Slavery in the United States|slave labor]] before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. In 1860, the population of enslaved people in Smith County was 4,982, the 4th most in east Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |year=1860 |title=Population of the United States in 1860: Texas |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1860/population/1860a-34.pdf |access-date=October 10, 2022 |website=Census.gov |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 17, 2021 |title=How farmland, timber and oil changed the face of East Texas forever |url=https://thetylerloop.com/how-farmland-timber-and-oil-changed-the-face-of-east-texas-forever/ |access-date=November 10, 2022 |website=thetylerloop.com |language=en-US}}</ref> By 1860, Tyler held over 1,000 enslaved persons, which represented 35 percent of the town's population. There was strong support for [[Secession in the United States|secession]] and the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] within Tyler, as a high percentage of its residents voted for secession and many of its men served in the [[Confederate States Army]]. The town was a secure enough location during the war for the [[Trans-Mississippi Department]] to establish the Tyler Ordnance Works for the resupply of its forces west of the [[Mississippi River]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Albaugh |first=William A. III |date=1958 |title=Tyler, Texas C.S.A. |pages=43–210 |chapter=Chapter 3: The C. S. Ordance Works at Tyler, Texas |location=Harrisburg, Pa. |publisher=[[Stackpole Books|Stackpole Co.]] |lccn=58012307 |oclc=1099590 |ol=30522064M}}</ref>