Historic Aerials hosts the largest online collection of historical aerial imagery, topographic maps, and modern aerials covering the United States. Our interactive viewer lets you explore any location—zoom in, pan across, and switch between decades—to see how it has changed over time. With imagery dating back to the 1920s, you can visually “go back in time” and watch cities, farms, and landscapes evolve. Use our compare, overlay, and topographic tools to view change with the same ease as a modern map app.

Simply enter an address or location in our viewer to browse available imagery. Use the timeline to switch between the available years of aerial images and topographical maps.

Subscribers gain access to additional features like an ad-free experience, less intrusive watermarks, and full-screen viewing.

The controls can be found on the left side of the map viewer. We recommend watching our tutorial videos on using tools.

Downloads are available in JPG, PNG, and GeoTIFF formats. The resolution and clarity you see in the viewer reflect the original quality of the aerial photo—what you see on screen is what you’ll get in your download. GeoTIFFs include embedded georeferencing data, allowing them to align automatically within GIS or CAD software.

Yes. We offer high-quality prints through our aerial survey partner in 9-inch, 18-inch, and 36-inch sizes. Each print is produced using the same imagery available online. View print options and pricing →

Every image on Historic Aerials has been carefully processed and quality-checked by our team in Tempe, Arizona. Dates come directly from the original film scans or associated flight indexes. While spatial accuracy varies slightly depending on the original source and year, all imagery is orthorectified and georeferenced to ensure consistent, reliable placement across decades.

Digital downloads are available immediately after purchase. Print orders are fulfilled by our third-party printing partner and typically arrive within 10–14 days.

Yes. All of our imagery is georeferenced in orthomosaic format, so GeoTIFF files can be imported directly into GIS and CAD applications. While we don’t provide formal certification, customers needing an affidavit of authenticity for legal purposes can generate and submit one using the purchased image data.

Subscriptions are available on monthly or 6-month plans and renew automatically until canceled. Subscribers enjoy an ad-free experience, minimal watermarks, full-screen viewing, and a monthly credit allowance for downloads. Four subscription tiers are available—Individual, Small Business (3 users), Business (10 users), and Enterprise (25 users)—each offering a different number of credits. View subscription options →

Credit totals vary by plan and automatically refresh each month on your renewal date. If you consistently run low on credits, consider upgrading to the next tier. At this time, additional credits cannot be purchased separately

Purchased imagery is yours to use for personal or professional projects, reports, or exhibits. Redistribution or resale—commercial or otherwise—is not permitted without written authorization from Historic Aerials.

Our archive is massive and growing constantly. While we can’t guarantee special requests, we do consider user feedback when prioritizing new areas for processing.

If imagery appears missing, you may be viewing the edge of a flight mosaic—coverage often varies from year to year. We rarely remove imagery, so it’s more likely your location wasn’t photographed that year.

For possible data errors or missing files, please contact us, and our team will review it. As for quality, all imagery displayed on the site is shown at its maximum available resolution (typically 1-meter per pixel or better). Downloads are identical to what you see in the viewer—only the watermark is removed.

You still can! After you select your location and save it to your Gallery. You'll want to select the frame size and file type you'd like. Above the "add to cart" button, there is an option to add additional years. Click that and you can select all of the additional years you'd like add at the same time from the exact same image extent.

Higher pixel downloads are a great feature when used correctly. If you are specifically focused on a small area, then you'll most likely only need the 1800 pixel download. 3600 and 7200 pixel downloads can be used in small areas, but only if the original photo can support it. If you are focused on a small property, the best practice to get a quality download is to look at all of the years of interest. If the worst resolution image looks ok, then all of the better quality images will also. If you work from the best quality photo, it may look great, but the other years may have a tiled or pixeled look to them. How do you avoid getting tiled looking images? If you zoom into the photo and it looks blocky in the viewer, then the download will be the same. You're in too close for that particular photo, zoom out till it looks clear then increase the purchase box till it's as large as it can get at that zoom level. You may be purchasing more area than you need, but if you make it too small the photo will look poor. This is the best practice for getting the best resolution available for your year of interest.

When do I use 3600 or 7200 pixels when downloading? If you're focusing on a medium to large area, or you're looking at a REALLY high resolution image. If you have a section of farm land or small neighborhood, small to medium comercial or industrial site and you need a little more area, then the 3600 pixel downloads will allow you to take a little more area and maintain the resolution of the image as you zoom in on the photo. If you're looking at a larger area of coverage or the original photo is really high resolution then the 7200 pixel image will allow you to capture a larger area and maintain the resolution when zooming in. If you purchase the lower resolution and feel you should've gone with the higher pixel count, then we can offer an exchange and credit the original purchase toward the upgrade. Hope this helps with some of the confusion on the pixel sizes.

No we haven't taken any aerial photography off of the website. On our old site the years list was larger and in most places a scroll bar was never needed. Between the change in layout and the fact that we are constantly adding new imagery, this is becoming more common in areas. Make sure to scroll down the list if the entire box is filled with years. If you are using a Mac, the preferences settings may be causing you to not see the scroll bar in the year list. This can be easily solved in the system preferences. Click the apple icon at the top left of your screen. Choose system preferences, then select General. In the second section down change the "show scroll bars" option to "always". This will help accommodate the smaller screens so that the entire webpage will be able to scroll up and down, as well as populate a scroll bar in your browsers for the years listing.

GeoTiff images are georeferenced imagery. All of the imagery on our website has been georeferenced and is available in GeoTiff format, which can be used in GIS software like ArcMap and AutoCAD applications. PNG and Jpeg formats are offered for users who only need the photo. If you insist on purchasing the Tiff file format, it will also come with the geolocation data embedded.

As a subscriber you will be billed regularly based on your subscription choice (montly or every 6 months). If you decide to cancel your subscription, you can do so at any time. To do so, you must login to your account. Go to your Dashboard, and click Subscription. In this menu the type of subscription, start date, and next billing date will all be listed. You also have the option to change the credit card on file, cancel your subscription and view any previous invoices. To cancel, simlply click the "Cancel Subscription" button. You'll get an information window, containg the final date your subscirption will be active through. Click the proceed button and your subscriptoin will be canceled.

No, we do not degrade the image quality for display purposes. What you see is the best that particular photo can get. If you cannot see the details you may need in the viewer window, it is unlikely you'll see any clearer in a download. The watermarks are removed on a download, that is the only difference between the two.

No, we do not degrade the image quality for display purposes. What you see is the best that particular photo can get. If you cannot see the details you may need in the viewer window, it is unlikely you'll see any clearer in a download. The watermarks are removed on a download, that is the only difference between the two.

While I'm sure it's possible an email will get missed from time to time, we try to respond to every question or request that we get through our support link. Often times the email response will come faster than a call back. If you email support and don't hear back, check your spam folder. Our emails have addresses that are common and in the public domain. Especially if you have an att.net email address or anything related to their entire network of emaill addresses. If you have an att.net related email address I would highly recommend using a different email address when signing up with our site. I have to email them frequently, identifying my response as "not spam" and waiting to see if they allow the email through to the customer. If you email a question and have not registered, or registered without filling in a phone number, there is no way to respond to you if At&t decides they don't want to allow it through.