Nestled in the beautiful Piney Woods of East Texas, Tyler is known as the "Rose Capital of America". While the moniker is well-deserved given the local rose industry, Tyler's history is just as colorful as any rose. From the days when it hosted the largest Confederate prisoner-of-war camp west of the Mississippi River, through the years when cotton, fruit trees, and then roses became the local cash crops, to the time when the East Texas oil field was discovered and launched a new economy, Tyler boasts a fascinating past. While the sources for photographs in this work are numerous, the Smith Co... View More...
