Changing times c150 years ago to today

A view of Fredericksburg from Stafford Heights during the Civil War

I was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  That is a town situated about halfway between Washington, DC and Richmond.  It had some battles of small significance during the Civil War, at around the time  the above image was taken.

Here's an old postcard of the area from c1910 or so.  The inscription reads "Fredericksburg from Stafford Heights."  So it's nearly the same shot, but about 50 years later.

Here's another picture shot from about the same place.  The postcard was mailed in 1924, so the picture must hail from before then.  Not much has changed.  (In fact, maybe nothing -- it looks like it could be the same picture in color.)

There are some differences between these and the one from the 1860s, but not that many.  You will no doubt notice that the tallest structures are the church towers.  This was true in most cities from the medieval age to the mid 20th Century.

Here's a map of the area that seems to have been produced for a game.

Union and Confederate Forces can be seen arrayed on the map

That's the Rappahanock River that runs beside it.  I spent many a night along the Rappahanock a bit further west, looking for large hairy folk.

This photograph of the approximate area is undated, but judging by the picture quality looks to be much more modern.

And this one hails from 2010, but doesn't show quite as much since the leaves are in full bloom.

Still, you can't see anything that has changed in 150 years from these pictures.

Of course an awful lot has.  These pictures are taken from an historic mansion from across the river, toward downtown Fredericksburg, which is also considered an historic landmark area.  But outside this little slice of land, there is plenty of change.

This aerial photo was taken c2000.  Compare this to the Civil War era photo.

There's no date on this one, but it's probably from the last year or so.  This is what a lot of Fredericksburg and environs look like now.