Crime Scene and Trauma Cleanup in Chandler, TX

Chandler is a city in northeastern Henderson County sitting on high ground at the northern end of Lake Palestine, between the lake's Kickapoo Creek and Neches River arms.

The town traces its start to 1859, when Alphonso H. Chandler settled with his family about a mile north of today's downtown and named his settlement Stillwater; it was later renamed in his honor.

Chandler opened a post office on April 17, 1873, with A. H. Chandler himself as postmaster, and the Cotton Belt Railroad arrived in 1880 to anchor the town's growth.

Before Chandler, the area was home to Delaware, Cherokee, and Kickapoo peoples led by Chief Bowles, who were defeated at the Battle of Battle Creek in 1839 just north of the present city limits.

Chandler had 3,275 residents at the 2020 census, up from 2,734 in 2010 and just 624 back in 1940 — growth driven largely by Lake Palestine recreation and its proximity to Tyler, about eleven miles east on State Highway 31.

Lake Palestine, at Chandler's doorstep, is a man-made reservoir of about 25,560 acres fed by the Neches River, popular for fishing, boating, and birdwatching.

McCain Park on Highway 31 West houses the Chandler Historical Museums, including the historic Yarborough House and the town's original train depot.

River Park on Highway 31 East gives residents boat access and fishing on the Neches River.

Chandler is served by the Brownsboro Independent School District, and its own Chandler Elementary School was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2004.

Chandler's residents skew older than Texas as a whole, with a median age of 44.4 years recorded in the 2020 census.