Old Austin looks great in grainy black‑and‑white, but you can’t spot the brick details or storefront signs that way. In this post we test a handful of historical Austin photographs.
I pulled the best old black‑and‑white Austin photos I could find and ran them through my color‑and‑detail Stable Diffusion workflow. The post shows each original next to its AI pass and gives a little detail about the original image.
Thanks to Reddit Texas History as the source of most of the images.


Looking north up Congress Avenue towards the Capitol (1940s)


The third Capitol of Texas. Built in 1882 at the corner of 11th Street and Congress. The building burned down in 1899.


This is a postcard image of firefighters in Austin. Dated 6/10/1812


Looking east at what is now the intersection of I-35 and highway 290 in Austin. (1950s)


A trolley car wrecked on Dam Boulevard, after a bridge on Shoal Creek fails. (1915)


Congress Avenue. Original State Capitol building. (1880)


Congress Avenue looking toward the state capitol. (1890s)


The Drag?


Soda fountain/diner at 804 Congress Avenue. (1959)


Dr Tobin’s Drugstore on Pecan/6th street. (1880)


View from the Capitol Dome. 1887-1894