Bird’s eye views of Texas cities and towns became very popular in the decades after the Civil War. They were often commissioned as advertisements to promote new towns and/or to document the tremendous growth of these places between 1870 and 1900. But these views are also remarkable evidence of specific buildings and neighborhoods and are thus wonderful tools for architectural historians.
In this talk we will focus on Galveston, Houston, San Antonio, and, of course, Austin, and smaller towns such as Bastrop, New Braunfels, and Waco, to see what mysteries we can uncover.