This digital collection documents the built environment of the University of Houston campus from the ground up, featuring maps, aerial views, architectural drawings and models, and photographs of buildings both under construction and upon completion. In all, the collection contains 272 photographs and drawings in both color and black and white, dating from the 1930s to the 1990s.

A comparison of campus maps from 1948-1950 and 1965-1969 highlights the rapid, mid-century growth of the university, while several aerial photographs taken from 1937-1980 provide a dramatic overview of the development of the campus and the surrounding city – from acres of untouched fields to miles of urban sprawl.

Dozens of architectural drawings and models illustrate the finely detailed planning process involved in creating the university’s physical appearance. These architectural works comprise both interiors and exteriors of individual buildings, as well as the campus as a whole.

Most of the university’s signature buildings are represented with photographs showing their progress from construction to completion, including Moody Towers, the Ezekiel Cullen and Roy G. Cullen Buildings, the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, the M.D. Anderson Library, and many others. Of particular interest are photographs of Veterans Village, which is no longer standing, and the University of Houston at San Jacinto High School, which predated the university’s own campus in the 1930s.

The original materials are available in UH Libraries’ Special Collections in the UH Photographs Collection.