BASS, TEXAS. Bass, twenty miles east of Tyler in eastern Smith County, was named for a family of local settlers and granted a post office in 1886. In 1890 and 1892 John B. Bass was both postmaster and owner of a local cotton gin. In 1890 the town, which received mail semiweekly, had a population of four and businesses including a blacksmith, a corn mill, two cotton gins, and a sorghum plant. By 1892 the number of inhabitants had increased to eighteen and a druggist had opened a new business. The post office was discontinued in 1903.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: "Post Offices and Postmasters of Smith County, Texas: 1847-1929," Chronicles of Smith County, Spring 1966.

Vista K. McCroskey