Alva was the son of Timothy W. Townsend, who operated a photograph gallery in Iowa City 1866-1880, and again beginning in 1890. Alva worked in his father's studio beginning at age 17, around 1890. This information is from Annals of Iowa, and the New…
View looking northwest. Old South Hall, Old Capitol, and Old North Hall. Photo taken after North Hall built in 1866, and before Medical Building constructed in 1882.
View looking north. Calvin Hall (then called Science Hall) in background on right. Men and women walking away from Old Capitol, eastward on central walkway.
View looking southwest. Jefferson Street angles to the right. Old Dental Building is visible on right, and Old Capitol on the left (behind trees), with Calvin Hall (then called Science Hall) at center.
Old North Hall on left, Calvin Hall (then called Science Hall) at center. The University's third observatory, constructed in 1891, is barely visible between these buildings, behind the trees.
