Group of seven (7) albumen stereoviews documenting San Antonio MIssions, circa late 1860s - 1880s, including two views of the Alamo. Published by Henry A. Doerr and Doerr & Jacobson, of San Antonio, Texas.

Each on cardstock mount, three with the "Doerr & Jacobson" printed backmark on verso, three with Doerr's rubberstamped imprint "H.A. Doerr / Photographer / San Antonio, Tex." One view has no imprint or photographer's stamp, but is an exact match to another stereoview in the grouping that bears the "Doerr & Jacobson" imprint. Views include:

1. Untitled image. Verso with manuscript notation "1a Mission Conception" and backstamps, "H.A. Doerr / Photographer / San Antonio, Tex." An exterior mission view, on yellow mount.

2. "Stereoscopic Views In and Around San Antonio, by Doerr & Jacobson, 63 Commerce Street." Subject underlined, "De Espada - Fourth Mission-1716." Exterior view of a lone, stone front facade, on gray mount.

3. Untitled image. Verso with manuscript notation "2a Mis de San Jose 1720 interrior [sic]" and backstamp "H.A. Doerr / Photographer / San Antonio, Tex." An interior mission view, on yellow mount.

4. "Views In and Around San Antonio, by Doerr & Jacobson, Photographers." The Alamo. Exterior. Exterior view of front facade with horse and wagon, on gray mount. Printed description on verso reads, in part: "The Alamo is the first and most important of Texas Missions....The siege of the Alamo by Santa Anna i 1836 is the most interesting and important event which occurred in our historical city...."

5. Untitled image. Verso with manuscript notation "Alamo" and backstamp "H.A. Doerr / Photographer / San Antonio, Tex." An exterior view of the Alamo with four men posed near the front entrance and three standing in the doorway, on orange mount.

6. Untitled image. Verso with four separate manuscript notations in different hands: "4 Mission," "Mission San Francisco de La Espada San Antonio," "San Francisco de la Espada, San Antonio Texas," and "Gift of W.D. Apperton, 13 May 1938."  An exterior mission view, on gray mount.

7. "Views In and Around San Antonio, by Doerr & Jacobson, Photographers." Mission San Francisco de la Espada. (Fourth Mission.) Exterior view, on gray mount.

Henry A. Doerr (ca 1822-1885) was a Prussian-born photographer active in San Antonio during the last third of the nineteenth century. A March 1867 San Antonio Ledger article describes Henry Doerr as "the first gentleman who took photographs in San Antonio, and has been engaged in this business over seventeen years." Over the course of his more than three-decades in Texas, Doerr operated both independently and in partnership with other photographers. His most enduring partnership was with Samuel E. Jacobson (also known as Sammy E. Jacobson). The pair operated an establishment at 63 Commerce St. from roughly July 1875 to 1879. Arthur V. Lynch's article "San Antonio: As Viewed By Henry A. Doerr Photographic Artist," (Stereo World, Jul/Aug 1981) notes the following: "In December,1872 Henry A. Doerr moved to a new building on Commerce Street where he remained through 1875. Examples of his work during this period are on yellow, round-cornered mounts with a small  'H. Doerr, Photographer, San Antonio Texas' uniformly stamped in the center of the back. For eleven years the titles on Doerr's views were handwritten on the backs. Many in-town views, with images familiar to the purchaser, were sold untitled.... At the end of 1876 Doerr was at 63 Commerce Street where he was joined by Samuel Jacobson....During their association (1876-1879), the views were usually on gray mounts. Apparently, Jacobson was responsible for the new format with backs headed by 'Views In And Around San Antonio, By Doerr & Jacobson...." By 1880, Doerr was again working alone. He passed away in October 1885 and is buried in the Saint John's Lutheran Cemetery New, San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas.

Doerr's images of San Antonio's historic Spanish frontier missions document buildings that today constitute part of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

[Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Stereoviews, Stereographs, Albumen Prints, Texas, Missions]