Austin | Historic Images & Postcards

gardensoul · #1 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 2:16 AM**

Austin is better known for its rapid growth than its historic "fabric", however there are some roots in this decidedly new & youthful town...

At the corner of 6th and Congress - the heart of Austin.

An old view of the Governor's Mansion

Probably from the 1940's

Another image from the '40's

The Capitol

Hook 'em!

JACKinBeantown · #2 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 4:33 AM**

Nice!

KevinFromTexas · #3 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 4:50 AM**

It's better to put this here since these aren't actual photographs, or your own.

Keep posting these. I collect postcards myself.

Have you ever heard of austinpostcard.com? I'm sure you have!

http://austinpostcard.com/

gardensoul · #4 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 11:59 AM**

The SFA Hotel

University Avenue with Old Main - before the Tower.

Memorial Stadium with the old baseball field and encroaching neighborhoods.

StoOgE · #5 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 1:29 PM**

My father still talks fondly about Clark Field (the old baseball stadium).

I would have loved to see a perplexed visiting outfielder try and navigate billy goat hill.

Here is a good picture of the cliff/hill:

AusTex · #6 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 1:42 PM**

Great to see these postcards.

When I return from Colorado I will share some of my postcards with this thread. Thanks for starting the thread.

Downtown_Austin · #7 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 3:43 PM**

Great thread. Keep'em coming!

priller · #8 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 7:20 PM**

Were Littlefield and Scarborough ever that red? I assume they weren't, it's just a byproduct of the printing process. They look pretty good like that, though.

I kind of wish our architecture was more colorful. So much of our architectural heritage is based on the "white stone" buildings of ancient Rome and Greece. But that's a big misconception. Those buildings were colorfully and elaborately painted back when they were in use. So were the marble and bronze statues -- the were completely painted to look more realistic. To our eyes they would probably seem tacky and garish if we saw them as the really appeared back then.

That was also true of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Mexico. All very colorful places. Our modern cities are quite drab in comparison.

gardensoul · #9 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 9:14 PM**

All of these postcards are hand-tinted, so the colors are rarely accurate.

I wonder what we'd think of all of the marble white Greek temples if we saw them all in their painted splendor? Garish or charming?

Downtown_Austin · #10 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 10:07 PM**

below is an H-E-B at 5th and Colorado

below is 5th @ Brazos St, where the Brazos Lofts is currently.

Before there was I-35...

keep'em coming!

NormalgeNyus · #11 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 10:23 PM**

is that just hand tinting on the capitol or was it golden at one time?

LoneStarMike · #12 Posted **Aug 31, 2009, 11:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gardensoul

The SFA Hotel

Here's another earlier postcard of the Stephen F. Autin Hotel from http://www.austinpostcard.com

I wonder when those extra floors it has now were added.

MichaelB · #13 Posted **Sep 1, 2009, 12:17 AM**

Huh.... the Stephen F probably was added onto the way the Littlefield was. Interesting.

gardensoul · #14 Posted **Sep 1, 2009, 11:47 AM**

Interesting - the first and shorter version of the SFA Hotel looks like a UT building.

gardensoul · #15 Posted **Sep 1, 2009, 12:07 PM**

While we are on the subject of hotels...

And this was located at 808 Congress...

LoneStarMike · #16 Posted **Sep 1, 2009, 1:46 PM**

Here's a couple from 1911 showing what used to be the main post office downtown and the Seton Infirmary

These were part of a souvenir booklet from 1911. Here's a link to the other pages

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...%20souvenir%22

Downtown_Austin · #17 Posted **Sep 1, 2009, 2:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

Here's a couple from 1911 showing what used to be the main post office downtown and the Seton Infirmary

These were part of a souvenir booklet from 1911. Here's a link to the other pages

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...%20souvenir%22

Great link!

priller · #18 Posted **Sep 1, 2009, 2:48 PM**

"Air cooled"

LoneStarMike · #19 Posted **Sep 1, 2009, 3:09 PM**

Here's a couple of historic maps I thought were cool.

I found the one above at http://www.judegalligan.com

You can go here to view the above map and then click on the image to zoom in a lot further.

The second map is from about 1890-1895

This one is from the Texas State Library

Go here to see this map, then click on the image to enlarge it a lot further, too.

Both maps were when the E-W streets were named after trees and they go all the way up to Magnolia St. (19th St, now MLK).

The detail on the larger versions of both maps is amazing.

LoneStarMike · #20 Posted **Sep 1, 2009, 3:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB

Huh.... the Stephen F probably was added onto the way the Littlefield was. Interesting.

Speaking of downtown buildings with added floors, The Vaugn Building is another one.

From 1960 ( from the Portal to Texas History)

January, 2009 (to the right of the satellite dish)