Everyday life in 1970s Texas captured by photos in the National Archives

Motorcyclist in Leakey, Texas, near San Antonio, 05/1973 Motorcyclist in Leakey, Texas, near San Antonio, 05/1973 Photo: NARA, Marc St. Gil/ U.S. National Archives Photo: NARA, Marc St. Gil/ U.S. National Archives Image 1 of / 96 Caption Close Everyday life in 1970s Texas captured by photos in the National Archives 1 / 96 Back to Gallery

When the Environmental Protection Agency commissioned freelance photographers to canvas the country and document the "subjects of environmental concern" in the 1970s, no one anticipated the enduring portrait of American life that continues to captivate viewers across generations.

The DOCUMERICA Project, an initiative of the EPA, sent over 70 freelance photographers to document how neighborhoods and communities throughout the United States were affected by the various, sometimes catastrophic, environment conditions at the time.

The photographers were paid $150 per day plus film and expenses. Collectively, they produced 80,000 images, over 20,000 are preserved in the U.S. National Archives, thousands are accessible in a highly popular Flickr collection.

Perhaps the most profound, most singular feature of the DOCUMERICA Project is the range of unique and creative interpretations of the EPA photo assignment.

Hippie teens in small town Texas and barrio kids in El Paso are featured along with arsenals in Marathon and Guadalupe River flooding. Some of the most provocative and memorable images in Texas were by well-known talents like Marc St. Gil and Danny Lyons.

In the above gallery is a sample of the images captured across the Lone Star State — from the rivers, lakes and the oil fields to the small towns and barrios.

RELATED: Prison life in 1960s Texas, documented in Danny Lyons's iconic 'Conversations with the Dead'

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