  Beech_cricker Member Username: Beech_cricker Post Number: 44 Registered: 10-2008 |
Can anyone tell me a source for aerial photos taken in the c. 1930-48 timeframe that would include Allen Park? I've fully studied the aerials in the DTE Aerial Photo Collection and though they are great and have been helpful, their earliest is 1949. This relates to my historial research on Dunleavy's/Maury's Bar covered in another thread.--Jeff | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 2168 Registered: 12-2005 |
Have you searched in the WSU Virtual Motor City Collection? It contains many aerial photos of Detroit and the surrounding areas that were taken by Detroit News photographers during the 1930s. These are regular news photos taken from the open cockpit of the airplane, unlike the high-resolution aerial mapping photos found in the DTE collection. Conducting a search using the keyword "aerial" returns these 439 images that taken from the 1910s through the 1980s. (Message edited by Mikeg on February 04, 2009) | ||
Beech_cricker Member Username: Beech_cricker Post Number: 45 Registered: 10-2008 |
Mikeg, despite having visited the Virtual Motor City Collection rather regularly, I did not look for aerials. Alas I did find anything anything covering Allen Park outside of a shot of the VA Hospital under construction (a neat photo). Close but no cigar. I do appreciate your tip on this, however.--Jeff | ||
Jtf1972 Member Username: Jtf1972 Post Number: 119 Registered: 08-2008 |
I love looking at aerial photos and comparing them to satellite maps from google. There is something about looking at an area and seeing it change... an intersection that existed before they destroyed it to put in a freeway for example. I'd love to see what course Outer Drive followed before City Airport was built. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1892 Registered: 10-2003 |
Outer Drive didn't change course when the airport was built. Connor Creek and an adjacent greenway ran through the grounds of the airport. The creek was later put in a pipe and a runway was paved over the top. Beech, you won't find any earlier aerial photos similar to the DTE set. Aerial survey photography didn't get going until the late 1930s and a statewide survey of Michigan probably wasn't done until the late 1940s or early 1950s. | ||
Beech_cricker Member Username: Beech_cricker Post Number: 46 Registered: 10-2008 |
Mikem, are you sure? I'm more familiar with Pennsylvania aerials and they go back to 1937, at least at the site I commonly use. Was Michigan behind the curve?--Jeff | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 1895 Registered: 10-2003 |
Most of the aerial survey photography was done for the USGS and I think they started in 1936 or 1937. I don't know how they went about doing it, but it was probably contracted out to several different firms. Seems like they started in the Northeast before getting around to the Midwest, and it was done piecemeal, photographing parts of a state initially and then covering the rest years later. Also, the war years would have interrupted the work. I don't recall ever seeing any photos of this area prior to the 1950s and some parts of the state weren't photographed until the late 1960s. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 2176 Registered: 12-2005 |
Aerial view of Detroit City Airport, undated but probably taken sometime in the 1930s (WSU Virtual Motor City Collection). |
