MPSI Mapping 1983 Houston Aerial Photographs

Collection

Identifier: 2016-041

Staff Only

This collection consists of one bound volume of color aerial photographs of Houston, Texas taken in 1983 by MPSI Mapping, Inc. of Dallas. It measures approximately 20 inches by 25 inches.

The over-sized bound volume is labeled on the front as “Houston Texas , Southwest,” with the name “MPSI” inscribed at lower right. All photographs bear the note, “Date of Photo 12/30/83.” The volume is in good condition but has slight water damage to back cover and sheets near the end of the volume.

Dates

1983

Conditions Governing Access

Open for Research.

Conditions Governing Use

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish from copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian. Reproduction decisions will be made by Special Collections staff on a case-by-case basis.

Extent

1 linear feet

Additional Description

Biographical / Historical

The city began on August 30, 1836, when Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen ran an advertisement in the Telegraph and Texas Register for the "Town of Houston." The town-site, which featured a mixture of timber and grassland, was on the level Coastal Plain in the middle of the future Harris County, at 95.4° west longitude and 30.3° north latitude. When first formed in 1949 the Houston Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area covered only Harris County and had a population of 806,701 people. The increasing use of automobiles also led to the building of expressways in the 1950s that extended over 200 miles by 1990. The prosperity after World War II brought the world famous Galleria shopping mall with its interior ice-skating rink in 1970. In the ordering of urban space Houston politicians and voters have continually rejected the use of zoning. The lack of zoning has not affected development to any great extent, however, since heavy industry concentrated in the area of the ship channel and subdivisions controlled construction through deed restrictions. This casual attitude toward land use encouraged business expansion.

Sources:

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "Houston, Texas." http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/hdh3.html Accessed March 5, 2009

Author: Stephen James