Flint Texas

Location of Flint Texas

The Flint Texas Post Office ... Zip Code 75762 (Staff Photo)

Flint is an unincorporated community in Smith County Texas, and is about 11 miles south of downtown Tyler.

It is located at the junction of Old Jacksonville Highway (2493) and farm roads 2868 and 346, and lies just south of Gresham and four miles north of Bullard. To the west of Flint is located the Noonday community.

Flint uses telephone area code 903. Flint has its own Post Office, at Zip Code 75762, located in Flint Plaza at 10668 FM 346.

This page is an online resource for Flint business, tourism, hotels, shopping, attractions, maps, and recreation. It provides information for newcomers, visitors, and long-time residents.

Flint, Texas, located between Gresham and Bullard (Staff Photo)

 

We are proud of their service and work ... visit their site, and make a donation... Flint-Gresham Fire Department

Featured Businesses in Flint Texas

Today, Flint is experiencing exponential growth as a "bedroom community" for Tyler, and the successful location of new businesses.

A number of businesses are located in Flint providing for the needs of the local community.

Near the downtown intersection is a Chevron station and convenience store, a Dollar General store, and the corporate offices of WRL General Contractors.

Among the other businesses located in the area is the Flint Veterinary Clinic at 18421 Old Jacksonville Highway ... phone 903.894.7278

Plants of Texas Plants of Texas has opened seasonally for several years at the corner of Loop 323 and Highway 155, offering a large variety of trees and plants. In 2023, family-owned Plants of Texas opened a new, permanent facility just north of Flint on Old Jacksonville Highway (17470 FM 2493). It offers locally-grown plants specifically chosen for Texas gardens, indoor houseplants, vegetable and fruit varieties, beautiful pottery, quality soils & mulches, sturdy tools, garden furniture, gifts, and even some homegrown preserves. And beekeeping classes too! Phone 903.316.3292. Plants of Texas on Facebook

4-Way Cafe The popular 4-Way Cafe is family-owned and located at the southeast corner of 2493 and 346. Phone 903.710.2129 for information ... serving breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinners to go. Omelets, pancakes, french toast, breakfast burritos, burgers, reubens, steak wraps, club sandwiches, chicken fried steak, salads, casseroles to go, and more! Highly recommended!

Rubicon Wild Birds and More Our favorite birding supply in the Tyler area has long been Rubicon Wild Birds and More. We always enjoy shopping there, and learning from their birding workshops. The location of this family-owned business is 17968 FM 2493 #142, Flint, TX 75762. The store is located between Gresham and Flint on the west side of Old Jacksonville Road. For more information, phone Rubicon at 903.954.2518.

Kim's #47 Recently opened is Kim's Convenience Store #47 in front of the post office. Established in 1985, Kim's Convenience has grown from a single location in Palestine, TX to a chain of 20+ stores throughout Texas! The Flint location features a Valero fuel station, and various food, drink and grocery options. Phone 903.273.8020.

Old Jacksonville Highway Corridor Widening at Flint

Construction began in the Summer of 2018 by TxDOT for the five-laning of two miles of Old Jacksonville Highway (FM 2493) from Gresham to FM 346 in Flint. Improvements include widening the road from two to four lanes, with a center turn lane, at a cost of $14 million. The project was completed in the summer of 2021.

Another project, still in the planning stage, will involve the widening of six miles of FM 2493 from Flint southward to past Bullard at its intersection with U.S. 69.

Flint Texas Real Estate, Area Subdivisions and Gated Home Communities

Texas home in the Flint area

The Flint area has a number of new, exciting real estate possibilities, and subdivisions.

Home building and real estate options in Flint are plentiful, and include a variety of subdivisions, gated communities, golfing communities, lake-front sites, condominiums, townhouses, and country ranch-style living.

The area also features great opportunities for homebuilding in residential subdivisions, on area lakes, golf communities, and on ranch properties and wooded sites in Cherokee County as well as Smith County.

New home developments in the Flint area are shown below. The list includes gated communities as well as those that are publicly accessible.

Development	Gated	Location and Amenities
Barrett Heights	No	Adjacent to Oak Hollow on the East side of Old Jacksonville Highway, near Swann's Furniture, north of Flint
Blue Ridge	No	Large development off Old Jacksonville Highway north of Flint, near Gresham, Jack Elementary School, and the new West Cumberland Road extension
Brown's Landing	Yes	75 acres of woods and land-sculpted shoreline and waterfront lots on Lake Palestine
Cook's Ranch	Yes	East of Flint on Old Bullard Road off FM 346
Crossing, The	No	West side of Old Jacksonville Highway. Currently one gated sub-community: Grand Oaks Estates
Eagles Bluff	Yes	Golf community south of Tyler on Lake Palestine
Emerald Bay	Yes	Lake and golf community on Lake Palestine
Hollytree	No	Large development on golf course in Tyler. Access from Grande Blvd. or Old Jacksonville Highway. Two gated sub-communities: The Winsford at Hollytree, and The Villas of Hollytree.
Hunter's Creek	No	Between FM 2493 and U.S. 69, between Bullard and Flint. Homes being built on Boone Drive, off McKellar Road. Close to Oak Hurst Golf Course.
Moseley Place	No	South of Flint, near downtown Bullard, close to schools and parks
Oak Hills	No	West side of Old Jacksonville Highway, north of Flint
Oak Hollow	No	East side of Old Jacksonville Highway, adjacent to Hollytree
Running Meadows and Running Meadows West	No	Southwest of Flint on FM 346
Southhaven	No	West of Flint
Spruce Hill Estates	Yes	Southwest of Flint on CR 140
Windsor Estates	No	South on FM 2493 between Flint and Bullard

Map of Home Developments in the Flint and Tyler Texas Area

View Tyler and Flint Texas Subdivisions and Developments in a larger map

 

 

Tyler Hotels, Motels, B&Bs, Lodging, Accommodations

Nearby Tyler offers a variety of hotels, motels, inns, extended-stay suites, RV parks, and other accommodations situated near the major tourist, business, shopping, and medical centers of the city.

Visiting Flint and staying in Tyler? Find the best deal, compare prices, make reservations and read what other travelers have to say about hotels in Tyler

RV Parks in the Flint and Tyler Texas Area

The Tyler area features a number of RV parks in all parts of the city, and in all directions from the city. Listed below are a sampling of parks available to RVers near Flint:

• AOK RV Park - just east of Flint on FM 346, close to US 69
• K.E. Bushman's Camp - south of Tyler on US 69 in Bullard near the Kiepersol Winery & Celebration Center

AOK RV Park and Campgroud, east of Flint on FM 346

KE Bushman's RV Camp at Kiepersol in Bullard, Texas, on U.S. Highway 69

Flint Texas Tourism and Attractions

The area surrounding Flint offers a great variety of tourist attractions and things to do, for both residents and visitors.

American Freedom Museum, Bullard, Texas

Just south of Flint, in Bullard, is the American Freedom Museum located just a few blocks from downtown Bullard on the Brookhill School campus. The Museum contains 15,000 sq.ft. of galleries showcasing a collection of over 600 artifacts and documents about our nation’s history.

For golfing enthusiasts, the Peachtree and Oak Hurst Golf Courses lie just south of Flint. More golfing is available at Eagles Bluff and Emerald Bay, both west of Flint.

Nearby Flint is Moore Farms, a fun place to visit for all ages of the family year round.

Also of interest is the Dewberry Plantation, dating to 1854. This historic home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and registered as a Texas State Historical Landmark.

South of Bullard near Jacksonville is the Cherokee Trace Drive Thru Safari, a wildlife park that is home to an amazing variety of wildlife. See over a dozen exotic and endangered species that thrive in an open habitat similar to their native territory. At your own pace, enjoy a self-guided drive through the hills and open savannahs of this 300-acre preserve.

For those interested in riding horses, a visit to Tarrant Ranch in Mt. Selman, south of Bullard, is recommended. The ranch is one of the few properties in Texas that has been under continuous ownership and management by members of the same family for more than 160 years. This is a perfect place to bring school group, your riding club or family for a quiet, inexpensive getaway.

For those that love outdoor riding, visit Cactus Speedway. Cactus Speedway is a 1/5 mile oval clay surface race track for Go Karts, ATV's & Motorcycles located in Bullard.

Lakes Near Flint

Lake Palestine Texas (Staff photo)

In the Piney Woods Section of East Texas, there are over 30 lakes offering a variety of outdoor sports for vacations or weekends, including Lake Palestine and Lake Tyler.

Lake Tyler and Lake Tyler East, situated adjacent to each other and connected via a canal, are located just east of Tyler, Texas. These are the largest lakes in the Tyler area in addition to Lake Palestine. The two lakes cover nearly 5,000 surface acres and serve as the major water supply source to the Tyler metro area.

For more information about fishing, boating, maps, lodging, photographs and more, visit www.Lake-Tyler.com

Lake Palestine is located about 15 miles southwest of Tyler, Texas, on Texas Highway 155, and resulting from a dam on the Neches River. It has a surface area of 25,560 acres, and was completed in 1962.

For more information, visit www.LakePalestineTexas.com

Attractions and Things to Do in Nearby Tyler

A highlight of each spring season in East Texas is the 10-mile long Tyler Azalea Trail guiding visitors through neighborhoods of quaint brick streets, historic homes, and residential gardens filled with blooming azaleas, dogwoods and tulips.

about the Tyler Azalea & Spring Flower Show

Tyler is known as the Rose Capital of America, and is home to the widely recognized Tyler Rose Garden. This is the nation's largest municipal rose garden, listed in Livability's top 10 most inspiring gardens in the USA.

Tyler is also the site of the annual Texas Rose Festival.

 

The new planetarium at Tyler Junior College has become a "don't miss" Tyler attraction. The planetarium features exhibits such as "Tales of the Maya", shows like "Astronauts" and "East Texas Live Skies", and the 1,500 pound Brenham meteorite.

Tyler offers a number of first class museums, such as the Tyler Museum of Art, the Goodman-LeGrand home, and the Cotton Belt Depot Museum.

Things to Do in Tyler

 

Shopping in Tyler

Scene at the The Village at Cumberland Park (staff photo)

While in today's marketplace there are shoppers who prefer the convenience of online shopping, many others enjoy the friendliness and selections of local shopping in Tyler and East Texas.

Shopping in Tyler spans the marketplace, from national retail giants such as Kohl's and Dillard's, to local eclectic, specialty boutiques.

And for a fun shopping adventure near Tyler, visit the world famous First Monday Trade Days in Canton, the ultimate flea market in the entire U.S.A.

Shopping opportunities in Tyler multiplied when The Village at Cumberland Park, located at the intersection of South Broadway Avenue and Toll 49, opened its first phase of stores. Upon completion, the project will cover 80 acres and contain over 700,000 SF of retail, services, restaurants, and entertainment in a vibrant, contemporary, and pedestrian friendly outdoor setting.

Tyler stores, malls, shopping map

Flint Texas History

The abandoned Morrow's Grocery Store, corner of FM 346 and 2493, Flint, Texas

The original town site, named for local landowner Robert P. Flynt, became a stop on the Kansas and Gulf Short Line Railroad in 1882. The post office began operations in 1887 as "Flint" since the local postmaster misspelled the town name on the post office application form.

The old Morrow's Grocery Store that stood on the corner of 2493 and 346 for decades was demolished on January 30, 2018, to make way for the four-laning of 2493 from Gresham to Flint.

In 1890 Flint had grown to have a general store, three cotton gins, a physician, and a population of twenty-five. By 1902, 100 families were engaged in truck farming, and shipped 85 railroad cars of tomatoes and large amounts of cabbage, cantaloupes, and peaches.

Abandoned Cotton Belt Route still visible in Flint, Texas

The town supported a blacksmith shop, a telephone exchange, a telegraph service, two mercantile companies, a cotton gin and gristmill.

By 1914 local farmers shipped record amounts of nursery stock, fruit, and tomatoes from Flint, and the town had six general stores, a bank, and a newspaper, the Flint Weekly Reader. The Great Depression greatly injured the business of the area.

On July 1, 1899, operations of the rail line through Flint was assumed by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company of Texas, commonly known as the Cotton Belt Route. The rail line is now abandoned, but its route through Gresham and Flint is still visible.

The old Morrow's Grocery Store that stood on the corner of 2493 and 346 for decades was demolished on January 30, 2018, to make way for the four-laning of 2493 from Gresham to Flint.

Abandoned Railroad from Tyler, through Gresham and Flint, to Bullard and Lufkin

Those of us that have made the trip down Old Jacksonville Highway, heading south from Tyler to Bullard, have noticed the abandoned railroad right-of-way on the west side of the road. The rail bed is still visible in 2023 in Gresham, Flint, and in downtown Bullard.

The Kansas and Gulf Short Line Railroad Company

The Kansas and Gulf Short Line Railroad Company was chartered in 1880, to connect Tyler with Sabine Pass in Jefferson County. In 1881, the company acquired the property and franchises of the Rusk Transportation Company and its 17 mile line between Rusk and Jacksonville. Part of the roadbed of this company was utilized by the Kansas and Gulf Short Line during the construction of its line between Tyler and Rusk, which was completed on December 12, 1882. The remainder of the line, about 44 miles between Rusk and Lufkin, was completed about July 1, 1885, giving the company ninety miles of mainline, narrow gauge tracks between Tyler and Lufkin.

On April 29, 1887, the company was sold to the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway Company. Both companies entered receivership on May 13, 1889 and were subsequently sold at foreclosure to Louis Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald conveyed the former Kansas and Gulf Short Line to the Tyler Southeastern Railway Company on January 13, 1891.

Tyler Southeastern Railway

The Tyler Southeastern Railway Company was chartered on January 12, 1891, to acquire and operate the Kansas and Gulf Short Line Railroad Company, which it converted to standard gauge track by September, 1895. In that year the company owned eight locomotives and 198 cars and reported passenger earnings of $38,000 and freight earnings of $86,000.

Cotton Belt and Southern Pacific

Abandoned Cotton Belt Route near Gresham, Texas, close to The Crossings, now the location of the Tyler Legacy Trail

On July 1, 1899, operations of the Tyler Southeastern were assumed by the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company of Texas, which merged the company on October 6, 1899.

This line, commonly known as the "Cotton Belt", continued to encourage and support the growth of East Texas, including helping farmers convert to a tomato crop after a blight destroyed the peach industry.

Harold J. McKenzie, the president of the Cotton Belt, moved the general offices of the railway to Tyler. A building to house the railway general offices was dedicated on March 22, 1955. Smith County purchased the Cotton Belt building in 1985, and continues to use the building today.

In 1926, tomatoes become the area's cash crop with over 8,000 acres being grown. Jacksonville is still known as the Tomato Capital of the World. In 1932 the Southern Pacific purchased controlling interest in the Cotton Belt.

Today Legacy Trails is open, starting at Three Lakes Parkway near FRESH by Brookshires, and proceeding south to Gresham, using sections of the old Cotton Belt railroad route along with city-owned right-of-way and utility easements along Old Jacksonville Highway.