Customer Reviews (2)

Early Anglo-American Architecture of Texas, except Galveston
This book is hard to figure out.It's a nice book, don't get me wrong, but it's not what its title suggests.

Ask yourself, what would you expect a book with the title "Early Texas Architecture" to contain?Then take a look at this book, and I guarantee you'll be puzzled.The entire Spanish/Mexican legacy is absent.So obviously, one must conclude that the author purposefully excluded it.Don't come here looking for the old missions of San Antonio, El Paso and Goliad.Not here.

Then there's the question of Galveston, one of the earliest "American" settlements in Texas and Texas' somewhat more modest answer to New Orleans...nowhere to be found in this volume!Not even a mention.

Certainly the large cities deserve some page space...San Antonio, Fort Worth and Austin are full of important early structures.OK, to give the book some credit, there are a FEW sites included from those cities, but very few, and nothing approaching a comprehensive study.

Finally, the early frontier forts offer some of the best sites for insights into early Texas building, but are conspicuously absent.

So what IS included in this book?This is a beautifully written study of early Anglo-American settlement in Texas, including well-written entries for structures in the frequently neglected small towns and rural areas of Texas.This book includes excellent surveys of structures in towns like Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Castroville and Jefferson.It's intentionally prepared as a study of the Texas few tourists ever see, and that makes it invaluable.

The book is arranged in chapters dedicated to a specific geographic region, and includes well-selected entries from the towns and countryside of those regions.The essays are not only historically insightful, they are architecturally insightful.The photography is monochrome only, and more functional than artistic.It's not "coffee table" material.The book is really intended for a somewhat enthusiastic general audience and for architectural historians.The quality of the analysis and the writing is scholarly, but not dry.Readers with an interest in old buildings will love the style.

Certainly not a comprehensive survey of historic Texas buildings, nor a travel guide to historic sites, this book fills an important gap in the generally thin literature dedicated to the built environment of this huge state.

My house is in this book!
A friend of mine saw this at a bank & flipped through it... he recognized my home and remembered the title for me.This book is very informative & concise.the photos are fantastic, but would be better in color.Also, the photo of my home was taken some years back & looks much better now.Maybe Mr. Echols will do a new edition!If you are a Texan or are just interested in early architecture, this book is for you. ... Read more

Product Description
Once part of Mexico and later an independent republic, the nation's second largest state has a past more colorful than many. The region that is now Texas was home to various Native American peoples before the arrival of the Spanish explorers who conquered and claimed the land. Settlement, revolution, and ultimately statehood make up the fascinating story of Texas. (20020301) ... Read more

Product Description
This careful study of eighteenth-century cartography along the Gulf Coast reveals a fascinating mix of cooperation and competition between Spain and France.

Louis Juchereau de Saint-Denis explored much of the region around the Gulf and sent data to his homeland of France, but he also shared information with Spanish officials. Juan Manuel de Oliván Rebolledo used this information to create several maps, one of which was drawn to demonstrate how Spain might protect itself from the French threat in Louisiana and Canada.

Information from the Oliván/Saint-Denis maps soon emerged on French maps. Guillaume Delisle's 1718 "mother map" of the Gulf Coast was made possible by Francois Le Maire, a virtually unknown French missionary in Mobile. Jack Jackson and Winston De Ville examine Le Maire's various memoirs and maps, which relied on Saint-Denis for their portrayal of the "Western Country." Le Maire's work explains how Delisle acquired the information to draw his profoundly influential map.

This important book for cartographers will also be of interest to the lay historian and the Gulf Coast enthusiast. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume illustrates the history of the Lone Star State through color plates of sixty-four historic Texas maps from the Marty and Yana Davis Map Collection, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, and includes ten original essays written by noted historians. Going to Texas is a catalog that will accompany the exhibition of the Davis Map Collection to ten museums throughout the Southwest over a period of two years. It will begin in Dallas at the Hall of State with the Dallas Historical Society and conclude at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth.

The maps range from the earliest sixteenth-century maps of New Spain through early settlement, the Republic and statehood, and into the twenty-first century. These objects are not only historical documents but also served to promote settlement or another aspect of Texas, to chart transport lines, and to guide the military. The earliest maps demonstrate cartography as an art that only centuries later evolved into a science.

The accompanying essays cover the Spanish exploration, the Louisiana Purchase and the Texas borderlands, empresario settlement, the Republic of Texas, the Trans-Pecos, statehood and the Confederacy, the end of the nineteenth century, the Mexican wars, and Texas in the twentieth century. They provide the historical context in which the maps should be viewed.

The maps are presented not only as historical artifacts but also as representations of culture, art, politics, and the great trends of industrialization and westward expansion. They reflect much of the American movement toward Manifest Destiny and the creation of the myths of "The West." The collection serves not only to illustrate Texas history but also American and European cultures over the centuries. Both the map collector and the amateur will benefit from reading this catalog. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not good for maps
Good book for brief history surrounding the maps, but the maps are worthless for use, as they are far too small to be readable. Huge disappointment, and misleading title.

Light on maps
The book is beautiful and informative. I wish the maps had been larger and appeared independently, instead of being dropped into the pages as illustrations.

Great book for Texas history buffs and map collectors!
I was impressed at the amount of history contained in this volume.The maps and information are very interesting and provide a great historical identity of Texas and its mapping over the years.Being a die-hard Texan and a map afficionado, it is a great addition to my collection.Only disappointment is the book isn't big enough!Would love to have seen it enlarged to a coffee table sized book. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the history, geography, government, economics, and people of Texas. ... Read more

Product Description
Book to learn about Texas history and more. contents include: Regions and subregions of Texas, State symbols, extremes, major cities, major groups that settled Texas, Major worldwide disasters, major modifications of the environment, State song, Texas Declaration of Independence, Culture around the world, Social Studies terms. 108 pages. Objectives keyed to TAKS. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Clear Lake, Katy Prairie Conservancy, Big Thicket, Parks and Open Spaces of Collin County, Texas, Texas Coastal Bend, Winter Garden Region, Edwards Plateau, Odessa Meteor Crater, Texas Blackland Prairies, Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Tamaulipan Mezquital, Texas Hill Country Ava, Texas High Plains Ava, Pelican Island, Mesilla Valley Ava, Texoma Ava, Mcfaddin and Texas Point National Wildlife Refuges, Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country Ava, Texas Davis Mountains Ava, June 2007 Texas Flooding, Trans-Pecos, Bell Mountain Ava, Escondido Valley Ava, List of Geographical Regions in Texas, List of Extreme Point of Texas, Sierra Madera Crater, Texaplex, Western Gulf Coastal Grasslands, Horsehead Crossing, Texas Highland Lakes, Aransas, Golden Triangle, Matagorda Peninsula, Marquez Crater, Mcgee Bend Reservoir. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 126. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Clear Lake, or the Clear Lake Area, is a region in parts of Harris and Galveston County in Texas, United States. It is part of the Galveston Bay Area, which itself is a section of the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. The area is geographically characterized by the bodies of water in it and around it, including Clear Lake, Taylor Lake, Clear Creek, and Galveston Bay. Clear Lake is relatively affluent with a thriving business community. The area's most important business sectors are aerospace and tourism. It is home to the Johnson Space Center and numerous aerospace contracting firms. The lake itself is home to one of the largest concentrations of recreational boats and marinas in the nation. The Clear Lake region is named, as it implies, for Clear Lake, a brackish lake that empties into Galveston Bay. The lake is fed by Clear Creek and empties into Galveston Bay. The name "Clear Lake" is often...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=683249 ... Read more