American Cities Before they Exploded

When driving was novel, the Ford auto was at the top of the game. As the headquarters for the Ford Motor Company, Detroit's manufacturing status brought it to the peak of success.

This image of Detroit's Highland Park just as the evening shift was getting ready to start at the auto plant. Year: 1916

Circa 1900, Mulberry Street in NYC, where skyscrapers didn't fill the line of sight, but fruit and veggie stands spread as far as the eye could see, along with the busy market atmosphere.

Before ritzy condos took over, Columbus Circle was wide and free,with Central Park showing in the background.

Once farmland, New York City in 1811 was just beginning to find interest in developers who decided the first step to creating a bustling city was to build some sturdy roads.

Pershing Square was once known as Central Park. This image shows the greenery looking northwest from 6th and Hill Streets. Year: 1885

The old Bank of America building in 1941, when cars were proliferating and the population was growing.

Los Angeles oil Fields in the early 1900's. At the time, the city was a huge oil hub, with twenty blocks of pumps and machinery.

And then eleven years later, in 1906, when the luxury city of Beverly Hills was created.

What was once swampland, being made into something more. The year was 1908.

An aerial view of James Snowden's estate in 1917, before it became home to future mayors and was eventually turned into a hotel.

The ”American Riviera,” Miami in 1926, as it was on its way to a modern city.

Downtown Columbus in 1872, a highly residential area, before commercial buildings overtook the central part of the city.

In Columbus, the old Lazarus building shown in 1908. The city was beginning to come into its own, the presence of the Dance Academy and Bliss College guaranteed a cultural peak.

The original location of the wealthy suburb Upper Arlington. Once private farmland, the city of Upper Arlington was built between 1915 and through 1918.

Was Boston traffic always bad? Kenmore Square, where cars and streetcars shared the space even back in 1928.

Print of Boston harbor looking inland. Circa 1873. As one of the country's earliest cities, it was already well-established even before the 20th century.

After the great Boston Fire of 1872. The well-populated area was devastated and had to start over in many ways.

One of only a few buildings on now-bustling Congress Street, 912 Congress in 1875. It was owned by A.H. Cook and Son.

One of the area parks, looking down from above, Mount Bonnell. Now the area to the right of the water below is inundated with homes.

The region around Driskill and 6th Street has always been a busy place, even before it became the big music scene it is today. Small business owners flocked here from a variety of different cultures.

San Francisco in 1862. The bay area was a bustling place with a lot of charm, even way back when.

Market Street and its mystery arch. San Francisco around 1899, supposed to be a welcome home for soldiers who fought in Spanish American War.

North Beach, in the Little Italy neighborhood of San Francisco.

Downtown Seattle in 1880, long before the grunge movement made it famous.

The Cherry Street Buildings, showing a historic Seattle vista. The year was 1903.

A streetcar traveling down Pike Street in Seattle, circa 1902. Notice Cordray's Theater house, which had opened less than ten years before this picture was taken.

The opening of the Hacienda hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, taken in 1956 when the area was more of a suburb than a city.

Downtown Las Vegas Fremont Street in the 1950s. Looking above from the old railway station. There was no glitz and glamour here yet.

When Las Vegas was nothing but a strip of land in the middle of the desert, taken in the early 1950s.