This collection contains images scanned from the photograph book published by A.V. Thomas in 1906. There are over 370 photos and is a virtual tour of the homes and businesses located in David City in 1905.
Albert Valentine "A.V." Thomas was born in Seward County, Nebraska, April 27, 1881, the son of Jacob and Anna Henninger Thomas. He moved to David City, Nebraska, with his parents in 1884, when he was three years of age. He studied photography in his youth and became an accomplished amateur photographer. He graduated from David City High School and received a law degree from the University of Michigan in 1905.
In 1905, in an attempt to earn money for college expenses, he took photographs of most of the homes and businesses in David City. The photographs were labeled, placed in small albums and sold. There are only a few of these albums in existence today. Most of the albums are owned by private collectors and one album was donated to the Hruska Memorial Library.
Photos from the A.V. Thomas album were scanned several years ago and a local volunteer, Bob Litjen, gathered legal descriptions on most of the properties. Bob, a life-long resident of David City, also gathered biographical details about some David City residents whose homes are featured in the album. The images and descriptions were placed in the Hruska Library’s Heritage Room and made available for public use but copies of these photos have not been available to the public, until now. Album information along with Bob Litjen's legal and historical descriptions are included in the database.
