I love old photos, especially old photos of Memphis - they're just kind of hard to find, especially in one easy-to-see place.

But earlier this week, Memphis Heritage sent me a link to their archives of Don Newman's Memphis photography, and as a result, I've spent entirely too much time clicking through them, trying to place the Memphis of the early 20th century into the Memphis that I know now.

It's amazing how closely some of the vintage photos mirror the current ones, like this one of G.E. Patterson and Mulberry in 1961:

(Copyright © 2012 Memphis Heritage, Inc./ Mrs. Don Newman. All rights reserved.)

And here's the same place in 2011:

The left side of the street looks almost the same now as it did then, but the right side is totally different, especially without the Arcade Hotel (the one from Mystery Train).

Other places look totally different. Here's Madison and Front as it was in 1890:

(Copyright © 2012 Memphis Heritage, Inc./ Mrs. Don Newman. All rights reserved.)

And here's what it looks like in 2012. The only thing that seems to be the same are the trolley tracks.

Main Street also looks completely different now than it did when this photo was taken in 1955:

(Copyright © 2012 Memphis Heritage, Inc./ Mrs. Don Newman. All rights reserved.)

And here it is now:

It's almost impossible to tell that the photos are of the same street. Some of the buildings (like the Lincoln American Tower are still there, but things have clearly changed on Main. In a lot of ways, I wish that Main was still as bustling as it looked in 1955 - tons of stores and businesses, lots of people and great neon signs.

Speaking of the Lincoln American Tower, here's how it looked in 1961:

(Copyright © 2012 Memphis Heritage, Inc./ Mrs. Don Newman. All rights reserved.)

Here's what it looks like now:

You can view about 100 of Don Newman's photographs on Newman's Memphis.