“History…Seen Together”

Schlueter chronicled Houston, its people, industries and events until his retirement in 1964.

A look at the turn-of-the-century Houston and Houstonians—through the Frank J. Schlueter Photographic Collection at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library, which was donated years ago by the Bank of the Southwest, forms an important part of the city’s local history center.

Photographer Schlueter was one of the few commercial photographers in Houston for many years. From his arrival in 1907, he was called on to document everything from a newly-planned fig orchard to a record-setting duck shoot, from a NOTSUOH (Houston spelled backwards) parade to a Red Cross bandage rolling, from excursion boats on the bayou to warships on the Houston Ship Channel. He shot close to a million photographs in a career that spanned nearly 75 years.