This documentary project by Photocommunications students at St. Edward’s University is centered around Lockhart, Texas. It consists of still photographs paired with titles and captions to give further context and meaning to the images.

A town of about 14,000 inhabitants, Lockhart lies 30 miles and 40 minutes south of the state’s capital city, Austin. Lockhart was chosen for its small town atmosphere and function, to some extent, as a bedroom community for more crowded and expensive Austin. Contemporaneous to the making of the project photographs, construction of a freeway cut across the Lockhart Road and affected travel between the two cities. The Lockhart pictures give evidence of change in addition to a respect for and intentions of preserving the town’s past. Local establishments retain a certain quaintness and agriculture continues to play an important role in many businesses and lives.

The project was initiated and overseen by St. Edward’s University professor Joseph Vitone during the spring semester of 2011. The project photographs and associated materials have been acquired by the Smithsonian Institution, Archive Center, National Museum of American History and should be available for viewing in future years.