Tyler County, Texas

Tyler County is a county in Texas, United States, in East Texas about 100 miles north of
Houston. It had a population of 19,798 at the 2020 census, an estimated 20,443 by 2025, and
covers 936 square miles (2,420 km2) centred near 30°46′N 94°23′W.

Woodville is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 75979. The
county holds 3 incorporated cities and towns and 8 unincorporated communities and census-designated
places, and it runs on Central Time. Its FIPS code is 48417.

Towns & Villages in Tyler County

Tyler County has 11 named places on record: 4 incorporated cities and towns, plus 2 census-designated
places and 5 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census
designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.

Ivanhoe is Tyler County’s second-largest city but has no ZIP code of its own; mail there is
delivered under Woodville’s 75979. Wildwood is a gated golf and lake community that straddles the
Tyler–Hardin county line; most of its land and its ZIP code, 77663, sit on the Hardin County side, so
its 1,121 residents are counted mostly toward Hardin County, not Tyler.

ZIP Codes

• 75979 — Woodville (also serves 75990, a Woodville PO box ZIP)
• 75938 — Colmesneil
• 75936 — Chester
• 77664 — Warren
• 77660 — Spurger
• 77616 — Fred
• 77624 — Hillister
• 75942 — Doucette (PO box ZIP only)

Ivanhoe and Acol have no ZIP code of their own; residents use Woodville’s or a neighboring
town’s code depending on which road they live off. Wildwood’s 77663 is administered from the
Hardin County side and is not counted among Tyler County’s own codes.

Geography

Tyler County sits in the Piney Woods of East Texas, on the western edge of the Big Thicket, a dense
mix of pine and hardwood forest, swamp and sandy upland. Of its 936 square miles, 925 are land and 11
are water, about 1.2 percent. Part of the Big Thicket National Preserve, a patchwork of federally
protected units set aside for its unusual overlap of ecosystems, lies within the county. The Neches
River forms the county’s eastern border with Angelina and Jasper counties, and B.A. Steinhagen
Lake, a reservoir on the Neches and Angelina rivers, sits on the county’s northern edge.

Angelina County lies to the north, Jasper County to the east, Hardin County to the south, and Polk
County to the west. Angelina County, Jasper County, Hardin County and Polk County all border Tyler County
directly.

Demographics

Tyler County had a population of 19,798 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the county
near 20,443 residents. Woodville and Ivanhoe are the two largest communities, together holding roughly
a fifth of the county’s population. Median household income runs about $55,396, an ACS 5-year
estimate, well below the Texas figure of $75,780 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly
21 people per square mile of land, low and rural even by East Texas standards.

Economy & Local Life

Construction employs the most workers in the county, about 837 people, followed by retail trade at
803 and educational services at 593. Logging and timber processing remain part of the local economy,
a holdover from the Yellow Pine Lumber Company era that built up Colmesneil in the 1880s. The Tyler
County Airport, a general-aviation field east of Woodville, and the county’s hospital district
are among the larger local employers. Woodville’s Heritage Village, an open-air museum of
original 19th-century buildings including a church, school and log cabin, anchors the county’s
tourism trade alongside the Big Thicket National Preserve. Spurger has held the self-declared title
of “Knife Capitol of Texas” since September 2017, tied to its long-running annual knife
show.

History

The Texas Legislature created Tyler County in 1846, naming it for John Tyler, the tenth U.S.
president. Woodville, laid out the same year, took its name from George Tyler Wood, governor of Texas
from 1847 to 1849, and became the county seat. Colmesneil grew up around a Texas and New Orleans
Railroad stop in 1881 and was named for W. T. Colmesneil, a railway conductor; the Yellow Pine Lumber
Company built a sawmill there in the 1880s. Chester formed in 1883 when a rerouted railway pulled the
community’s post office and businesses to a new townsite, and it incorporated in 1968, honoring
President Chester A. Arthur. Ivanhoe is the county’s newest city, incorporated in November 2009
and merged with the separately incorporated Ivanhoe North after a 2010 vote.

Getting There

No interstate crosses Tyler County. US 69, US 190 and US 287 are the main highways, along with
Texas Recreational Road 255 through the Big Thicket.

• Lufkin — about 35 miles north
• Beaumont — about 45 miles south
• Livingston — about 30 miles west
• Jasper — about 30 miles east

Jack Brooks Regional Airport in Beaumont, roughly 50 miles south of Woodville, is the nearest
commercial airport with scheduled service. Tyler County Airport, a general-aviation field just east
of Woodville, has no commercial flights. The county has no Amtrak station; the nearest stop is in
Beaumont.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Tyler County located?
It sits in the Piney Woods of East Texas, about 100 miles north of Houston, bordered by Angelina,
Jasper, Hardin and Polk counties.

What is the population of Tyler County?
19,798 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 20,443.

How big is Tyler County?
936 square miles (2,420 km2), of which 925 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Tyler County?
Woodville is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Tyler County?
Four incorporated places — Woodville, Ivanhoe, Colmesneil and Chester — plus the
census-designated places Wildwood and Warren, and the unincorporated communities Spurger, Fred,
Hillister, Doucette and Acol.

What ZIP codes does Tyler County use?
75979 and 75990 for Woodville, 75938 for Colmesneil, 75936 for Chester, 77664 for Warren, 77660 for
Spurger, 77616 for Fred, 77624 for Hillister and 75942 for Doucette.

What is Tyler County known for?
The Big Thicket National Preserve, Woodville’s Heritage Village open-air museum, and, despite
the name, having no connection to the city of Tyler, which sits 140 miles north in Smith County.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Texas.