Aerial Photography
Since the 1930s, numerous federal agencies have been collecting aerial photography, contracting with private companies to gather imagery as raw data for such diverse purposes as surveying, mineral prospecting, and agriculture. These photo sets were often assigned alphabetical or alphanumeric codes linked to a given project. A guide to these codes, arranged by state, is available from the National Archives, and is officially known as “Special List 25.” An introduction to this resource, including a way to download it, is to be found at: https://www.archives.gov/research/cartographic/aerial-photography/domestic-photography
Western State Collections
Arizona State University’s Map and Geospatial Hub has a guide to aerial imagery at: https://lib.asu.edu/geo/imagery
New Mexico
The New Mexico State Library’s page on accessing aerial imagery: https://libguides.nmstatelibrary.org/c.php?g=864776&p=6202165
Oregon
The University of Oregon has around 1 million photographs, 1930s to current. Primarily of Oregon, but extensive coverage of Washington State. Here is a research guide: https://researchguides.uoregon.edu/c.php?g=777133&p=5574228
Utah
Utah Geological Survey has been scanning its aerial imagery and putting it online at: https://imagery.geology.utah.gov/pages/collections_featured.php
The University of Utah’s Marriott Library has an extensive collection of aerial photography–a hodgepodge of sets donated from various sources, including the University’s Geology Department; Bear Creek Mining, a onetime prospecting “front” for Kennecott Corporation (now Rio Tinto); and other universities. This collection has been unorganized, but in the spring of 2024, the Multimedia unit of Special Collections recruited Ken Rockwell to make an inventory–now underway.
UCSB Library Aerial Photographs
An enormous physical collection of aerial photographs. 250,000 are scanned and online. There are some 2 million images, dating from 1924. Primarily California, but extensive western US and mid-Atlantic coverage and selected other areas.
- FrameFinder: Online map-based access
- Catalog (with scanned indexes)
- Direct access to imagery directories
Washington Coast Obliques:
More than 10,000 oblique photographs of Washington State’s Pacific Coast behind a map-based interface.
The University of Wyoming’s Brinkerhoff Geology Library has an extensive airphoto collection. Their introductory page: https://uwyo.libguides.com/maps/aerial