The History of Noonday, Texas
Noonday is a small farming community just southwest of Tyler with an outsized claim to fame: it gave its name to a well-known East Texas sweet onion. Founded around a church in 1876 and named for a town in Georgia, Noonday grew up as a close-knit agricultural community — and in the 20th century its fertile fields became known for a sweet onion so prized that the name Noonday Sweet Onions was trademarked in 1987.
Here's how Noonday came to be.
A Farm Community Takes Root
The Noonday area was settled by the 1860s, when the Spring Hill Methodist Church was built to serve the scattered farm families. The community itself traces its origins to 1876, when the Noonday Baptist Church was founded, taking its name from Noonday, Georgia — the hometown of one of its founders. A post office followed in 1880, with Edward W. Smith as postmaster.
Surrounded by fertile farmland and sitting at the intersection of historic Indian trails, Noonday became a close-knit agricultural hub. Its rich soils and its farming families set the stage for the crop that would make the little community famous, and the church-and-farm character established in those early years still defines Noonday today.
A Famous Sweet Onion
Noonday's claim to fame is its sweet onion. The City of Noonday ties the town's onion reputation to the Texas Early Grano 502, released in 1944 after years of Texas onion breeding. That breeding work wasn't done in Noonday, though. According to the Handbook of Texas, the state's onion-breeding program started in 1933 at the Winter Garden Station in South Texas. Noonday's part is the growing. The city credits its soil and climate for the sweet, mild onions raised here.
The Noonday name became a mark of quality. Area growers formed an association to market the crop as Noonday Sweet Onions, a name trademarked in 1987. By local tradition, an onion must be grown within a ten-mile radius of Noonday to count as a true 'Noonday Onion,' protecting the reputation of the sweet, mild onions raised in the community's distinctive soil. That heritage turned a tiny farm town into a name known to onion lovers far beyond East Texas.
From Crossroads to City
For most of its history Noonday remained a rural farming community at a country crossroads, its calendar marked by planting, harvest, and the church. The town's signature celebration was the Noonday Onion Festival, a community tradition honoring the local crop, which was put on hold in 2002 and returned in 2003 as rival city and growers' festivals.
More than a century after its founding, Noonday formally organized as a city, incorporating as a Type A General Law Municipality in 1981. Today it sits as a small, semi-rural community on the southwestern edge of the Tyler area near Lake Palestine — still proud of its farming roots and its sweet onion.
Timeline
1860s
The area is settled; the Spring Hill Methodist Church is built to serve area farm families.
1876
The Noonday Baptist Church is founded; the community takes its name from Noonday, Georgia, a founder's hometown.
1880
A post office is established with Edward W. Smith as postmaster.
1944
The Texas Early Grano 502 onion is released. The City of Noonday credits the variety as the root of the town's sweet-onion reputation.
1981
Noonday incorporates as a Type A General Law Municipality.
FAQ: History of Noonday
Noonday was named for Noonday, Georgia — the hometown of one of the founders of the Noonday Baptist Church, organized in 1876. The Georgia place name carried over to the new East Texas farm community in Smith County.
Noonday's soil grows a sweet, mild onion, and the town's name became a mark of quality. By local tradition, a true 'Noonday Onion' is grown within ten miles of the town, and the name Noonday Sweet Onions was trademarked in 1987. The City of Noonday traces the onion's fame to the Texas Early Grano 502, released in 1944. Texas onion breeding itself began in 1933 at the Winter Garden Station in South Texas, not in Noonday.
The Noonday area was settled by the 1860s, and the community traces its origins to 1876, when the Noonday Baptist Church was founded. A post office opened in 1880, and Noonday formally incorporated as a city in 1981.
The Noonday Onion Festival was a community celebration of the town's sweet onion. It was put on hold in 2002, returned in 2003 as rival city and growers' festivals, and is not on the city's 2025–2026 events calendar.
East Texas guides
Region-wide guides that put Noonday in context — where to go, what things cost, and how people actually live here.
A Brief History of East Texas
From Caddo settlements to the oil boom and beyond, discover how centuries of history shaped East Texas communities like Tyler, Kilgore, and Henderson.
Read Guide →Best Day Trips from Tyler and East Texas
Drive-time guide to day trips from Tyler: state parks, small towns, museums, and lakes within about 30 minutes, an hour, and up to three hours.
Read Guide →East Texas Festivals and Annual Events
Season-by-season guide to East Texas festivals and events — Canton's First Monday Trade Days, the Texas Rose Festival, the Yamboree, Wonderland of Lights and more, checked against each host's own site.
Read Guide →East Texas State Parks Guide
Twelve East Texas state parks from TPWD: Tyler, Caddo Lake, Atlanta, Lake Bob Sandlin, Tawakoni, Purtis Creek, Cooper, Martin Dies Jr. and more. Camping, cabins and passes.
Read Guide →Business Owner?
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