old sunset heights

I was browsing the Hall House blog and saw some cool photos of the author's street from 100 some years ago. That gave me an idea to put up an old photo too -- this one is from pretty far away though. This would be looking down from the top of the hill towards juarez, mx (hills and mountains in the background). The photo was probably taken shortly after 1909. In the distance lower right you can see the elementary school (big tan brick building) which is directly across the street from me. The big red brick victorian house two houses down from me is there too, and looking left an empty lot (which now sits a 1940s adobe style house) then mine (which is also empty lot). You should be able to see just the edge of it, which leads me to believe this photo was taken between 1909 (when the school was built) and 1914 (when my house was built).

Much of the neighborhood in its current form doesn't even exist yet. Mostly you see victorian homes in this pic. They tend to have been concentrated on the lower sides of the hill (both east and west) and are of a more modest cottage style. That's what's interesting about this neighborhood is that it was platted late 1880s (I think), but you don't really see too many homes pre-1890s. They tend to be mostly concentrated near downtown then as you go further north they thin out somewhat about halfway through the neighborhood (about where my house is). You start to see more of the classical revival, bungalow, and foursquare construction on the north end of sunset heights. The highest part of the hill is where the more affluent lived. The mansions constructed there are a decade or two younger. I guess it was fashionable in the 1890s for the well to do to still be "in town" as this neighborhood was considered off in the boonies.