Thanks to the plethora of files in Wikimedia Commons, there’s quite an archive of images documenting the history of the Lone Star State. We’ve compiled some of the most amazing early photos taken in Texas, from old drugstores to telephone operators and everything in between. Take a look:
- Brownsville, 1857. A survey of the US-Mexico border is about to take place.
Wikimedia Commons
- El Paso, 1857. People go about their day in the plaza and church area of town.
Wikimedia Commons
- El Paso, 1857. Military personnel gather in the Military Plaza.
Wikimedia Commons
- Washington-on-the-Brazos, 1852. Townspeople gather at Independence Hall.
Wikimedia Commons
- San Antonio, 1860s. People in covered wagons arrive at Alamo Plaza.
Wikimedia Commons
- Huntsville, 1870s. Men, wagons, and livestock are on a downtown street. Business pictured include T & S Gibbs, Eastman Pace & Parish, and James R. Cox.
Wikimedia Commons
- Huntsville, ca. 1873-1875. Inmates line up in the yard of the Texas State Penitentiary.
Wikimedia Commons
- Huntsville, 1870s. The corner of Twelfth St. and University Ave. The building pictured houses Poe and Wright’s Photograph Gallery upstairs and the city’s first bankers, Smith and Wynne, downstairs.
Wikimedia Commons
- El Paso, ca. 1882-1895. A Mexican Carreta travels down a street.
Wikimedia Commons
- El Paso, ca. 1885. Army men line up outside Fort Bliss.
Wikimedia Commons
- Beaumont, 1911. A boat is docked at Riverfront Park.
Wikimedia Commons
- Richardson, ca. 1900. A young woman works as a Telephone Exchange operator.
Wikimedia Commons
- Richardson, ca. 1900. Employees work at a drugstore, anxiously awaiting the arrival of customers.
Wikimedia Commons
- Galveston, ca. 1918-1928. Tourists and residents line the seawall, enjoying the sunny day.
Wikimedia Commons
- Panhandle, 1920s. A dust storm rolls in on a lonely highway. One car is pictured on the road.
Wikimedia Commons
- Houston, 1943. An old house is pictured with an apple stand in the front yard and a horse-and-buggy in the street.
Wikimedia Commons
- San Augustine, 1943. Three schoolchildren stand around a globe. A WWII propaganda poster is pictured in the background.
Wikimedia Commons
What did you think of these photos? Does anything look familiar?
Wikimedia Commons
For more old photos of Texas, check out these taken during the Great Depression.
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