Now every time we drive by it I'm going to be looking at it in a different way. haha
Anyone know when that photo was taken? That photo reminds me of the scene in Back to the Future III when Marty walks around the train station and catches a glimpse of Hill Valley in 1885 for the first time. It's stuff like this that takes my mind elsewhere and makes me wonder what it must have been like in Austin way back. Can you imagine witnessing the Capitol being built? That must have been amazing to see in the 1880s.
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Snapped this photo of a photo at Iron Works BBQ. Shows the intersection of Red River @ Cesar Chavez. You can see what existed prior to the [new] convention center, and what used to occupy the Fairmont site.
That building at Camp Mabry did always look funny to me so close to Mopac.
There's a Facebook group "Do you remember when Austin?" or something, and it has some interesting old photos of Austin on there. It mostly deals with stores, buildings and restaurants, old festivals and stuff. It's pretty interesting. Facebook is being weird right now, so I can't find the link, but it's worth the look.
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This thread is amazing. Since people have been taking photos from the Congress St. bridge looking towards the capitol since the late 1800s it would be sweet to see a progression of photos for every decade since it was built looking towards the capitol.
Austinpostcard.com is a nice source for that. They have postcards from the 1880s all the way up to the 1970s looking down Congress. That site also shows a lot of buildings that no longer exist.
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My girlfriend has a poodle named Kevin.
The special thing about this photo is that it captures the 100-200 blocks of Congress Ave during this era. While there's myriad photos capturing the Paramount and the upper part of Congress, there seems to be a shortage of old photos of the southern part (but still north of river).
That picture with One American under construction looks like it was taken during the 1880's what with the yellowing and blemishes. I drove my 1978 Camaro up and down Congress Ave during that building boom. I believe our population was around 360K at that time. Not only was the architecture of the new buildings elegant free, so were the cars Detroit was pumping out, yeeech!
Wow, that's a tough call. I think I would prefer to save the building if it could be restored to looked like it did when it was built even though it technically wouldn't be original anymore. But as it stands now, all bets are off, make room for progress. The inside of the structure may be more original than the outside, but most of us will never see the inside.
Long ago my dabbling in Austin history introduced me to the rich array of historic postcards portraying our city’s past. I bought my first Austin postcard – which depicts an early scene along Mount Bonnell Road – for $5 on Ebay. I have since amassed three albums of local postcards dating back to the 1890s, most obtained for less than $5 apiece. Certain landmarks stand out in any era - the Capitol, Congress Avenue and downtown skyline views are notable examples - while other, more obscure landmarks cause one to wonder just what they were thinking back then. Even cards featuring the odd scenes help shed light on Austin’s former cultural landscape, especially if there is a written message on the back. Let’s take a look at some snapshots of the past.
Found some (relatively) old shots I took back in 2005. This includes the sites of the Austonian and JW Marriott (prior to clearing the existing buildings).
JW Marriott site, bottom-right and Austonian, upper-left.
West 2nd at San Antonio (AMLI and W Hotel lots)
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Cool. I miss your photos from back in the day when they were building Frost. Watching the crown come together really was an interesting time in downtown.
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My girlfriend has a poodle named Kevin.
Thanks Kevin. Hard to believe it's been over 10 years since construction started. Perhaps I'll begin a series of posts as a commemoration. These shots were taken in late March 2002:
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Austin.Texas.USA
Home of the 2005 National Champion Texas Longhorns
Thanks Kevin. Hard to believe it's been over 10 years since construction started. Perhaps I'll begin a series of posts as a commemoration. These shots were taken in late March 2002:
I still have 4 of those "Congress at Fourth" signs (the blue ones on the construction walkways). I have one above my headboard on my bed as a matter of fact. I wonder which ones of those are mine. haha
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