These 1940 aerial photographs* of Austin and most of Travis County are the product of a joint effort between the Travis County Historical Commission and Travis County Department of Transportation & Natural Resources (with special thanks to Irene Egbulefu, GIS Analyst).
The aerials are a valuable aid to historians providing a snapshot of Austin and Travis County before WWII; a snapshot before Travis County's explosive growth. A time before changes in the landscape like the construction of Longhorn Dam; full completion of Mansfield Dam; before there was an I-35, or MoPac expressway; before there was a 1st Street or Lamar Street bridge; before there was a Bergstrom AFB, much less a Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. A time when farms and homesteads built in the 19th century dotted the landscape.
Built on ArcGIS, you are provided a basemap of your choice, georeferenced 1940 aerial photos, plus several layers to facilitate navigation and historic analysis: GLO abstracts, TCAD parcels and subdivisions; lakes, rivers and creeks.
* United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Travis USDA Historic Imagery, 1940-09-12. Web. 2020-08-20.
Tips on using the aerials (click image enlarge)
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| Choosing layers |
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| Adjusting transparency of aerial photos to view underlying basemap |
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| Select a basemap |
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| Search by postal address or lat long |
Is it possible to download the map for use in an app such as Gaia GPS? This app has the ability to download TMS map sources for use on a smartphone while out in the field. I would love to be able to walk around the city and see what had been in my location previously. I have been enjoying this map immensely.
ReplyDeleteAt this time, no. This is something we have discussed trying to make available. The City of Austin has the 450+ aerial photos that make up the map on their website, but you may have problems with the georeferencing. They are located here: https://austintexas.app.box.com/s/uphue0cn7drnwkhgmsnwf5mlby8lnfhu/folder/41416530097
DeleteThe City of Austin also has loaded the 1940 aerials (and other historic aerials too) on their ArcGIS Online portal, https://austin.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=48deddbe582e4f759ccea1602d42ae23
ReplyDeleteYes. We added a few things to our setup to facilitate historical research such as GLO surveys and TCAD parcels.
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