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  #21  
Old Posted Sep 1, 2009, 5:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gardensoul View Post
Interesting - the first and shorter version of the SFA Hotel looks like a UT building.
Good observation. I see that. Interesting how they took some some of the detail. I guess it was to make it seem more modern at the time. Funny how now I wish it still had all the former detail!
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  #22  
Old Posted Sep 1, 2009, 5:33 PM
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Re; maps above. It is really cool how, in both photos, the original grid looks like a big boat ramp to the river. See it? It is like a big glacier cut a plane thru the land. I am sure it is exaggerated in the drawings, but it is cool.
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  #23  
Old Posted Sep 1, 2009, 5:41 PM
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Early Transportation: Notice on the second map (take the link and zoom in) you can see a trolly that runs up Congress, take a west turn at 13th street, turns right up Lavaca, left on MLK and north up the Drag!!!!!!!!

Gheeeeee..... looks like it's only take a hundred years or so to get back to this idea!!!!!
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  #24  
Old Posted Sep 2, 2009, 2:54 AM
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Facinating stuff!
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  #25  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2009, 6:26 PM
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This one was posted by Mopacs in another thread

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  #26  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2009, 6:33 PM
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A little rough, but you can see a photo of the 300 block of Congress before the trees were installed.

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  #27  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2009, 6:41 PM
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Notice the frontage road in downtown used to be two-way. This is a photo of the elevated section of I35 at 6th Street. These photos were found at TexasFreeway.com

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  #28  
Old Posted Sep 4, 2009, 3:41 PM
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Let's keep the photos coming!
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  #29  
Old Posted Sep 4, 2009, 5:06 PM
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They maintained East Avenue as a functional thoroughfare through the completion of the expressway (I would assume). Looks as though it was reconfigured as an undivided 4-lane city street, following I-35/US81 ROW acquisition.
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  #30  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2009, 2:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Downtown_Austin View Post
Notice the frontage road in downtown used to be two-way. This is a photo of the elevated section of I35 at 6th Street. These photos were found at TexasFreeway.com

Cool picture, but also a reminder that our nation's infrastructure is starting to age. That elevated highway is almost 50 years old now.
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  #31  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2009, 3:04 AM
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Originally Posted by JACKinNYC View Post
Cool picture, but also a reminder that our nation's infrastructure is starting to age. That elevated highway is almost 50 years old now.
Yeah, the Minneapolis I-35 disaster is a reminder of that. It seems the country didn't take enough notice. I lived in Minnesota from 1997 to 2005 and drove across that doomed bridge many times, and I feel lucky.
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  #32  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2009, 7:06 AM
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BTW, KevinfromTexas had a thread awhile back with lots of Austin Postcards.

Link to other thread

The first 11 postcards are other cities, but the last 24 are all Austin.
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  #33  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2009, 5:10 AM
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These photos (and descriptions) are all from the Portal to Texas History's website.

http://texashistory.unt.edu/

November 23, 1956 - Aerial view of St. David's Hospital showing building, parking lot and part of the grounds.




January 25, 1957 - Exterior view of The Alamo Hotel at 400 W. 6th Street. Kash-Karry Grocery sign is visible in background at left. Wesley's Distinctive Dry Cleaning storefront is visible to the right of the hotel. The cleaners was located at 606 Guadalupe.




November 11, 1942 - Bands marching up Congress Avenue in the Armistice Day parade.




The next three photos of the TEC Building all have the same date - January 1, 1958, but they obviuosly weren't all taken on the same day.


Aerial shot of cranes and scaffolding at TEC construction site



Aerial shot of steel frame structure of TEC building



Aerial shot of finished TEC Building




June 22, 1947 = Exterior view of The American Statesman building which was located at 7th and Colorado Streets in 1947.




December 3, 1954 - Interior of the Stephen F. Austin Hotel showing the entrance to the hotel and the reception area.



Interior of the Stephen F. Austin Hotel showing the lounge.



Interior of the Stephen F. Austin Hotel showing the lounge with unidentified guests of the hotel.




February 25, 1948 - Austin National Bank Building on Congress Ave.




February 26, 1957 - Austin Skyline (more distant view) from the south on I-35



Link to large version of the above photo is here


February 26, 1957 - Austin Skyline (closer view) from South of Colorado River on I-35



Link to large version of the above photo is here
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  #34  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2009, 5:48 AM
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Archived 360 Condominiums construction camera photos. From day 1 until she was topped out 2 years later.

Enjoy!
http://oxblue.com/pro/open/demo/r1p&demo=1
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  #35  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2009, 2:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneStarMike View Post
These photos (and descriptions) are all from the Portal to Texas History's website.

February 26, 1957 - Austin Skyline (closer view) from South of Colorado River on I-35



Link to large version of the above photo is here
That looks like it was taken from Riverside Dr. pre-Lady Bird Lake. Very interesting.
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  #36  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2009, 6:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Downtown_Austin View Post
That looks like it was taken from Riverside Dr. pre-Lady Bird Lake. Very interesting.
No water. Not even like a tiny creek. That makes sense, as in Feb 1957 we were still in the terrible drought of record. However, if the pic was taken 2 months later, things would be different! Major flood happened to snap the drought in April of 1957:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watershed/floodhistory.htm

Interesting picture indeed.
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  #37  
Old Posted Sep 17, 2009, 1:02 AM
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That's wild. And the photo does check out to be that date since the Perry Brooks Building is present. It was built in 1952 I believe. I guess the drought really was that bad, though I've never heard of the river being dry there. I would have thought that the dams would have kept the river basin full even during the drought, but I guess it really was bad.
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  #38  
Old Posted Sep 17, 2009, 2:21 AM
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Longhorn Dam didn't open until 1960.
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  #39  
Old Posted Sep 17, 2009, 3:45 AM
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Look at the traffic or lack of.
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  #40  
Old Posted Sep 17, 2009, 4:46 AM
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That's so strange seeing that truck down there and no water.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottolini View Post
Longhorn Dam didn't open until 1960.
That makes sense. I didn't realize it was that young. It's hard to imagine Lady Bird Lake without water. If the river hadn't been dammed there and the level controlled, I wonder what kind of affect that would have on the NIMBYS who oppose density along the river. You can't argue for it if there isn't any water! Of course, I'm glad we have it. Water front skylines are so much more interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longhorn_Dam
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