The History of New Chapel Hill, Texas
New Chapel Hill is a small Smith County community about eight miles southeast of Tyler, with a history rooted in a church, a cemetery, and the schools that drew its scattered farm families together. From its 19th-century beginnings to its incorporation in 1968, it grew up the way so many East Texas communities did — around faith, education, and the land.
Here's how New Chapel Hill came to be.
A Church and a Name
Settlement in the New Chapel Hill area began in the late 1800s, as farm families put down roots in the countryside southeast of Tyler. The community took its name in a fittingly literal way: from a church and cemetery that sat on a higher elevation of land — a chapel on a hill. That hilltop place of worship, along with a Baptist church and a few surrounding farms, formed the early heart of the community.
Like many rural East Texas settlements, Chapel Hill grew slowly around its church and its land, a close-knit farming community defined by the families who lived and worshiped there. The name has endured for well over a century.
Schools Bring the Community Together
Education was the force that knit the community into a town. By 1945 the Chapel Hill community was officially established with the consolidation of the Bascom and Murph school districts — a merger that brought area families under one school system and gave the community a shared institution and identity.
The schools became the center of community life, as they remain today. Chapel Hill ISD — home of the Bulldogs — would grow into a multi-campus district covering a wide swath of east-central Smith County, including New Chapel Hill, the Jackson community, and even part of Tyler and the University of Texas at Tyler. For a small community, the district's reach and importance are considerable.
Becoming New Chapel Hill
In 1968 the Chapel Hill community incorporated — formally as 'New Chapel Hill' to distinguish it from other Texas towns of the same name. Incorporation gave the community a local government and a defined identity as a small city on State Highway 64.
Through the decades the population has held steady in the hundreds — around 620 at recent counts — as New Chapel Hill remained a quiet, semi-rural community on Tyler's southeastern edge. It also claims a notable cultural distinction: Chapel Hill was home to Therese Kayser Lindsey, a poet credited with helping launch the movement that created the Poetry Society of Texas. Today New Chapel Hill endures as a small, school-centered community within easy reach of the city.
Timeline
Late 1800s
Settlement begins in the Chapel Hill area; the community is named for a church and cemetery on a hilltop.
1945
The community is officially established with the consolidation of the Bascom and Murph school districts.
1968
The community incorporates as the city of New Chapel Hill, on State Highway 64.
2020
The census records a population of about 620, holding steady over the decades.
Notable People
Therese Kayser Lindsey
A poet associated with the Chapel Hill area, credited with helping initiate the movement that led to the creation of the Poetry Society of Texas.
FAQ: History of New Chapel Hill
The community was named for a church and cemetery that sat on a higher elevation of land — a chapel on a hill. When it incorporated in 1968, it took the name 'New Chapel Hill' to distinguish it from other Texas towns called Chapel Hill.
Settlement began in the late 1800s, and the community was officially established in 1945 with the consolidation of the Bascom and Murph school districts. It incorporated as the city of New Chapel Hill in 1968.
New Chapel Hill is served by Chapel Hill ISD — home of the Bulldogs — a multi-campus district covering east-central Smith County, including New Chapel Hill, the Jackson community, and part of Tyler and the University of Texas at Tyler.
Therese Kayser Lindsey was a poet associated with the Chapel Hill area, credited with helping initiate the movement that led to the founding of the Poetry Society of Texas — a notable cultural distinction for the small community.
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