Lindale Texas is a located in Smith County along the I-20 and US-69 thoroughfares.1 Lindale is a vibrant community in East Texas with a rich cultural heritage. Known in the past as the blackberry capital of the world, its present success lies in its high quality of life, while its future points to fast-paced business growth and development. Lindale’s honored past combines with its flourishing present to provide the momentum for a prosperous future.2
After the Civil War, Richard B. Hubbard, a former officer in the Confederate Army and owner of a large plantation on what is today a gated community called Hideaway Lake, began searching for a more convenient way to ship the produce grown on his land. Hubbard convinced railroad officials to lay track between nearby Tyler and Mineola. Hubbard's brother-in-law, Elijah Lindsey, anticipating growth around the new railroad, opened the fledgling community's first general store in 1871, and Lindale had its start; Lindsey was elected the town's first mayor a year later.
Several stories abound locally about how Lindale got its name, but the most common is that Lindsey's name was combined with the suffix "dale" to form "Lindseydale." The name was shortened to Lindale in 1874 when the first Post Office opened in town.
A year later, the International-Great Northern Railroad extended its line through Lindale, and the town's fledgling canning and fruit packing industries took off. By the late 1880s, some 300 people lived in the town, which was gaining fame for its fruit and berry canning industry.
By 1900, the city had its own newspaper, two cotton gins, several shops, churches, a telephone exchange, a doctor and lawyer, as well as the ubiquitous canning factory. In 1905, the town was incorporated; it spanned about a square mile in total.
In 1950 produce had become the city's main source of income. This is how the town gained the reputation for being the "blackberry capital of the world," with tons of berries being canned and shipped each year.
The 1949 comedy film release, Strike It Rich, was filmed in the Lindale, Tyler, and Kilgore area. An exhibit on the picture is found at a Museum in Lindale Texas.
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