The 1930 East Texas oil discovery transformed Smith County

Before 1930, Tyler was a small railroad and farming town. The discovery of the East Texas oilfield in 1930 changed that fast. Oil companies moved their offices to Tyler. The county's population and economy grew quickly.

By 1947, the county had produced 98,367,890 barrels of oil. The oilfield brought new businesses and better roads and buildings to the area. The wealth from that era still shows in Tyler's downtown architecture and in the history of the Rose Festival.