You’ve Got to See This Map of Today’s Roads in 1891 Houston

A Houston Redditor mashes up present day highways with a map from 1891.

By Rachel PhuaMarch 11, 2015 9:52 am

The idyllic railroad hub of Texas at the turn of the century has turned into a sprawling city thriving on its oil and gas industry and burgeoning population. We’re talking about Houston, y’all.

Houston’s growth has spawned a ton of infrastructure – highways like I-10, “the widest freeway in the U.S.”, the NASA Space Center, and the NRG stadium (which will host the Super Bowl in 2017).

Reddit user soundofreason decided to show us the change with a fascinating map overlaying Houston’s current roads and buildings on a historic 1891 map.

One user said “my inner historian is spazzing out right now,” and many others offered to purchase one if OP printed it.

The project was inspired by a fellow Redditor after soundofreason digitally restored an 1873 Houston map a couple of days before.