HCHS Archives Releases Aerial Photograph Collection
The HCHS Archive team is pleased to release a new collection: No. 137, Hunterdon County Aerial Photographs. This collection is a group of aerial photographs imaged via airplane flyover of Hunterdon County. There are two recognizable series of aerial photographs; one for 1956 and one for 1963. There are also images from a third set of aerials for which the date is unknown. For the two dated series, there are master (key) overlay maps of the county which allows for individual identification of desired image locations. Unfortunately, none of the sets are complete, but many of the photographs have been marked with notations, and these are used to indicate property owners whose names are written on the verso of the image. This collection should be of interest to anyone desiring to use overhead imagery of Hunterdon County for the time periods indicated in the aerial surveys.
Overhead aerial photographs allow the viewer to get a detailed perspective of what Hunterdon County looked like in the specified years surveyed, and it allows researchers to view changes in the county over time. By comparing and contrasting the aerial photos from 1956 versus 1963, there are many instances where evolutionary changes may be observed.
The first series of aerial photographs in this collection, designated Series 1, dates from 1956. The images were ordered by the United States Department of Agriculture Commodity Stabilization Service. The scale of the images is 1:20,000. Flying was completed on 10/11/1956, and the index was compiled on 10/26/1956. The photographer was the Aero Service Corporation of Philadelphia.
The second series of aerial photographs in this collection, designated Series 2, dates from 1963. The images were ordered by the United States Department of Agriculture / Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. The scale of the images is 1:20,000. Flying was completed in 1963. The photographer was the Aeroflex Corporation, Newton, NJ.
The third series of aerial photographs in this collection, designated Series 3, is undated. There is no key index associated with the series, and it is obvious the series is only partial. Unfortunately, there is no information concerning the source, photographer, or any other details. The individual photographs are designated with an unrecognized (at least, unrecognized by the archivist) numerical code that does not readily convey any meaningful data.
Special Thanks to Archival Volunteer Dan Leechan for arranging and describing this collection!