Six Cool Things About Tyler
Rose Festival
In the 1930s, some of Tyler’s town leaders attended a world’s fair and returned home inspired to find ways to bring tourists to Tyler.
Roses seemed like a natural place to start, since Tyler had plenty of them.So began the Rose Festival, an event that celebrates both the natural beauty of the flowers and all of the good things that the city has to offer.
The Rose Festival, which marked its 75-year anniversary in 2008, is held each October during harvest season for the rose industry.
In addition to Tyler’s municipal rose garden – at 14 acres, it’s the largest in the country – there are thousands of rose bushes in and around the town; at harvest time, the blooms go to the festival.
Texas True
From the Panhandle to the Gulf‚ from furniture to food – if it’s made in Texas‚ it can be found at Texas True. The 6-year-old store on Highway 155 is aptly named: It’s devoted entirely to merchandise produced in the Long horn State. “We honor Texas‚” says proprietor Teresa Farish. “It’s all about Texas pride.” Merchandise ranges from small souvenirs depicting the state to sturdy pieces of Texas-sized furniture. Even the store’s T-shirts are homemade – all produced from 100 percent Texas-grown cotton. Farish also works with the state’s plentiful collection of artists and artisans‚ commissioning one-of-a-kind pieces for her store. Customers range from local folks intent on supporting the state’s artists and manufacturers to displaced Texans eager for a little taste of home. Farish regularly ships items throughout the world to former residents or those who just wish they were. “They’re very intense‚ and they’re very loyal‚” Farish says of those far-flung customers. “We’re just filling that need.”
Bergfeld Park
Bergfield Park was established in 1913 when Tyler businessman Rudolph Bergfeld donated land for the site. He stipulated that the land was to be used exclusively as a public park‚ and today the 8.32-acre park still has playground equipment‚ tennis courts and picnic areas. Meanwhile‚ in 1936‚ Sears‚ Roebuck & Co. President R.E. Woods donated funds for a Tyler amphitheater. Woods made the gesture because the Sears store in Tyler was the only store in the company’s entire national chain to show a profit during several of the early Depression years. The amphitheater still exists today‚ in Bergfeld Park‚ and is officially named Woods Amphitheater.
Goodman Museum
Trivia answer: Tyler’s first property ever to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places was the Goodman-LeGrand Home, located on North Broadway Avenue. The home is now known as the Goodman Museum, and it originally began as a one-story, four-room house constructed by Samuel Smith in 1859. The home is now named for the family of its third owner, Dr. W.J. Goodman. The family lived in the home for more than 70 years. The residence underwent several additions and renovations to give it a Classical Revival look by the 1920s, and the mansion has remained largely unchanged since. The museum is open for public tours, with many of the Goodman family’s antique furnishings on display.
Brick Streets neighborhood
Here is a hard fact: In 2004, the Brick Streets neighborhood in downtown Tyler became the city’s sixth historic district when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The district encompasses 29 blocks and approximately 250 structures, and the neighborhood actually dates all the way back to 1848. In the 1920s, the area began to develop quickly thanks to oil exploration, and it became a desirable spot for residential and commercial development. Once prosperous merchants and professionals began moving in, red brick streets were built throughout the district to add cohesiveness to the neighborhood.
Hudnall Planetarium
Plenty of star power can be found at Hudnall Planetarium.
The astronomy-based building was built in 1963 on the campus of Tyler Junior College, and is used as an educational exhibit room and domed viewing theater. The dome of the theater is 30 feet in diameter, and the planetarium offers an assortment of telescopes for the public to view the heavens.
