Pictures are timeless. They capture a moment and allow us to cherish it forever with the simple push of a button. Today we’re traveling back in time to the early 1900’s and getting a glimpse of just how different life was in Texas a century ago. If you think our state is mesmerizing now, take a look at these pieces of history from an era before busy streets, corporate offices, and abundant commercial businessess…your jaw just might drop.

1. With all the trees in Texas, it's no wonder logging has always been a major industry.
Flickr/foresthistory
These loblolly pines are being hauled away from Montgomery Country, near Conroe, in 1901.
2. This is the Southern Pine Lumber Company Sawmill in Diboll. How does this compare to today's sawmills in Texas?
Wikimedia Commons
3. Nearly a century ago, WWI soldiers returned to Houston and were met with a homecoming parade. Can't you just feel everyone's joy and relief to have their friends and family back?
Wikipedia/History of Houston
4. Speaking of Houston, this is a restored photo of Main Street back in 1913. Station wagons? Where are the Ferraris and fancy shopping centers?
Wikimedia Commons
5. We're all familiar with the tragic Galveston hurricane of 1900. This is the destruction it left in its wake.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons
Some homes survived the worst hurricane in history intact, but none without any damage at all.
6. Luckily, Galveston was able to get back on its feet again with the construction of the seawall. Can you imagine how excited these people were? How many times have you walked on the seawall?
Wikimedia Commons
7. The waters of Barton Creek, now a popular summer hangout spot, were virtually untouched in 1900.
Wikimedia Commons
8. That's right, in 1900, saloons doubled as courthouses in Texas. And we held hearings on horseback.
Flickr/ooocha
9. In 1908, the flood of the Trinity River in Dallas almost overtook this bridge. Luckily cars weren't very prevalent yet!
Wikimedia Commons
10. Take a look at this telephone exchange operator in Richardson, Texas around 1900, when the era of the working woman was starting to bloom. How does this compare to your office today?
Wikimedia Commons
11. Despite renovations since then, Galveston's Hotel Galvez still has the same elegant, Victorian look that it did in 1911.
Wikimedia Commons
12. This gallery ends with none other than a restored picture of our state capitol. Even in 1906, it was still bigger than the nation's capitol.
Wikimedia Commons

Did you recognize any of these places? If Texas has changed this much in the last century, can you even imagine what it might look like in another 100 years? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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