Over one hundred thousand souls. Big old pre-war tower for a town that had under 30K people in 1940.

Famous, among other things, for rose processing.

This looks permanent:

The little P indicates that’s been turned into a parking ramp. Or the one on the right was built as a parking ramp, but in a “traditional” style, and its neighbor was hollowed out.

As ramps go, you can’t beat this.

That’s the most ungainly church ever conceived by the mind of man; it’s the absolute opposite of “Church.” Fascinating decision. It’s like the Scrooge McDuck vault of souls.

I love the 50s styles but they don’t get the respect and preservation they deserve. I mean, no one would argue for preserving this.

And maybe you can see why.

Hmm

Peer up at the top. The what?

The Fair Foundation Building. Renovated now, and it looks nice inside.

This should be an easy search on Cinematreasures.

Actually, it wasn’t. But I did. A rather bitter entry:

The Tyler Theatre was opened on August 2, 1940 with Ann Sheridan in “They Drive By Night”. Operated by Interstate Theaters Inc., it was later taken over by Plitt Southern Theatres who closed it in 1982. Famous for producing beautiful “Tyler Roses”, the city of Tyler has let a cinematic rose die. The theatre has been gutted and converted into retail use.

No newer pictures exist on Streetview, and it’s looked like this since the first visit in 2008.

Very nice.

And - dare I say it - if that’s a ground-floor renovation, it works.

It was a brief style, due to economics, I think. Not a lot was built when this was the main expression of commercial modernity. If it's a 30s building. Could be late 40s, early 50s.

Ditto, but man, the ones they built were fantastic.

Finished in 1932.

Uncompromising, severe, utterly self-possessed. A sign of the new world to come. (It was not, in fact, to come.)

The bane: top-heavy civic buildings.

No one likes them.

Why did I clip this?

Oh! Nice. Well, better.

Shrieks of the Seventies, doesn’t it?

But it has a certain civic pride. You have to love the clock.

That’s one blunt piece of work, right there.

Sometimes the minimalism of the era just looks like an excuse not to try anything.

A fine post-war building, but what’s that painting? Or is it a painting?

Hmm:

The google information says it’s the “Wisenbaker Production Company,” and that it’s “permanently closed.”

It’s like a decal.

Absolute rote early 80s office building, and again: every city of a certain size should have one.

Only needs Crockett and Tubbs walking out, putting on their sunglasses.

Preferable to demolition, I suppose.

The scale of the door compared to the rest of the place is unnerving. What was this, a trampoline store?

I detect a trend, I do

Safe to say that the fashionable women who patronized this place found another store.

GET A ROPE

Eclectic designs: they may not always fit together, but they make for a more interesting street.

This should be easy.

The interior is much smaller than you might think.

Best stop there. Not bad, Tyler! Not bad at all.