The San Antonio Thread

[Traces]

Note from Traces:  I think that, rather than post a bunch of threads, I'll create one thread for each of the big cities in Texas i.e.  The San Antonio Thread, The Dallas Thread etc...  This will save a lot of time and a lot of clicks in the future.


This 1849 daguerreotype is not only the oldest known photo of the Alamo but the oldest photo known to be taken in Texas.  It is also the only known photo that shows the building before it was repaired and rebuilt by the U.S. Army in 1850. At that time the army altered the appearance of the Alamo in several ways, including adding the distinctive curved gable at the top of the church facade, which is perhaps its best known feature. The Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin bought the daguerreotype with funds donated for that purpose by former Texas governor Dolph Briscoe Jr. and his wife, former University of Texas System regent Janey Briscoe. The daguerreotype now resides at the Briscoe Center as part of their permanent collection.


 

[Traces]

The Mission Drive-in in San Antono. First shot was taken in 1950. Second is one of my own photos, taken in 2017.

 

[Traces]

A wood market in the Military Plaza in San Antonio, 1880s. Back then, wood was needed for cooking and heating, and enterprising folks would venture outside the city, gather wood, and haul it back to sell it.  This remarkable 1880s photo of San Antonio was taken by Mary E. Jacobson, a pioneering female photographer who owned a studio located at 2 East Houston Street.  Super!