About Historical Aerial Photography - Images, Photos,

The first to successfully accomplish aerial photography was Gaspar Felix Tournachon or "Nadar" in 1858 when he photographed the houses of the French village of Petit-Becetre from a balloon tethered at a height of 80 meters. That first image has unfortunately been lost, but Nadar went on with from this experiment to take the first to photograph Paris from a balloon in 1868. In 1860, not long after Nadir's first attempts, James Wallace Black successfully photographed Boston from a balloon. This is the oldest aerial photograph know to still exist, and so Historical Aerial Photography begins.

If you an environment engineer, lawyer, banker, genealogist, or land owner, the value of historical aerial photography can be priceless. Historical Aerial Photography can find irrefutable proof of environmental impact, land changes, pre-existing buildings or find that foundation from the old farm house that is no longer standing.

Aerial Archives of San Francisco, a leading aerial photography company, maintains an extensive collection of Historical Aerial Photography. This historical archive is available for advertising and editorial use as well as for use to establish facts about historical conditions by law firms, investigators, and researchers. In most case, old aerial photographs dating back at least 50 years are available for most any area. Aerial Archives also provides research services for historical aerial photographs where they do not exist in the archive, and can usually locate a useful historical aerial photograph for their clients.

Minnesota based Historical Information Gatherers, Inc. also offers Historical Aerial Photography services. In fact it is their most requested service. HIG offers standard packages for sites located throughout the United States. Their photos are of high quality and range in years from the 1920's to the present. Their extensive aerial photo library ensures their clients the best opportunity to assess property changes over time. In addition to their standard packages, HIG provides many different custom aerial services, including photo availability search and acquisition, enlargements, scanning, and image rectification.