During the second half of the 20th century, a city once known for its wind towers, qanats, and adobe houses was modernized and grew more than 10 fold in population. This growth has been accompanied by an act of erasure that complicates the spatial narrative of Yazd and what it represents. Reflecting on the urban morphology of the city and the political dynamics that helped shape its spatial and social structure, I will attempt to reinterpret the urban landscape of Yazd. In reading the city from this particular vantage point, I hope to illustrate the degree to which local narratives, as well as its traditional ecological adaptive strategies, were affected by the nationalist discourse that defined who Yazdis were and what the city meant to the nation-building project. In this regard, I hope to show the degree to which local public history has been lost, and explore what the future may hold for Yazdi identity and its spatial representation.