Evocative Photos of Life in Texas in the 1970s

Dallas, 1972

By the late 1960s, the American landscape was ravaged by decades of unchecked land development, blighted by urban decay in the big cities, and plagued by seemingly unstoppable air, noise, and water pollution.

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Galveston’s West Beach on the Gulf Of Mexico draws huge crowds, 1972

In November 1971, the newly created Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a monumental photodocumentary project to “photographically document subjects of environmental concern” in the United States. The collection, now at the National Archives, resulted in a collection of more than 20,000 photographs by its conclusion in 1978.

Galveston Bay, 1972

With support from the first EPA administrator, William Ruckelshaus, project director Gifford D. Hampshire contracted well-known photographers to work for the EPA on the project. Estimates of the number involved range between 70 and 120, and they were organized geographically, with each photographer working in a particular area in which they were already active. For example, Leakey, Houston and San Antonio in Texas were covered by Marc St. Gil.

Dune buggy on Stewart Beach on the eastern tip of Galveston Island, 1972

Galveston Bay, 1972

El Paso’s Second Ward, 1972

El Paso’s Second Ward, 1972

Stanton Street in El Paso’s Second Ward, 1972

Message on a Wall in the Frio Canyon Lodge, 1972

A Texaco crude oil tank blazes against the night after being struck by lightning, near Houston, 1972

Teenagers in drugstore in Stockyards area of Fort Worth, 1972

San Antonio, 1972

1972

Houston, 1973

Ranch Hand who works in the area near Leakey, Texas, near San Antonio, 1973

Interior of a Local Gas Station in Leakey, Texas, During the Noon Hour, near San Antonio, 1973

Drugstore in Leakey, Texas, during the noon hour, 1973

Leakey, 1973

Leakey, 1973