https://www.reddit.com/r/wisconsin/comments/1ig57vw/wisconsin_historic_aerial_photography/
created by Wiscmapper on 02/02/2025 at 19:23 UTC
68 upvotes, 10 top-level comments (showing 10)
I thought some of you might get a kick out of this site; we recently completed a major overhaul, and expanded the photographs available. Historic aerial photography dating back to 1930s. Find, view, and download for free:
https://maps.sco.wisc.edu/whaifinder[1][2]
1: https://maps.sco.wisc.edu/whaifinder
2: https://maps.sco.wisc.edu/whaifinder
Right now we're working on adding 1970s and 1990s to fill some gaps. More will be added in the future.
Zoom in... blue dots you see represent the approx centers of photos. Click on the map to see what's available for that spot. Then you can view on the map or download.
Comment by 473713 at 03/02/2025 at 01:29 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is so cool. I see you located for your study the early-60's section by section aerial photos taken to determine land use, by SEWRPC (South East Wi Regional Planning Commission).
I worked on that project, coding every single plot of land as to its usage, in the summer of maybe 1967. We used colored pencils on big 3' copies of the photos, estimating the area for each usage. Nothing was digitized yet obviously. If we couldn't determine the use of a lot by referring to various databases, we interns got to drive out from our Waukesha office and look at it.
Which was definitely our favorite part of the job :-) It's fun to see the aerials sixty years later. Waukesha Co in particular is vastly different -- it was mostly farmland in those days, very beautiful farmland, which makes me a little sad.
Comment by tombombdotcom at 03/02/2025 at 01:30 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I’ve spent hours on this site cross referencing Wisconsin LiDAR Map[1] to find old railroads, hidden geology ect.
1: https://data-wi-dnr.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/wi-dnr::wisconsin-hillshade-from-lidar/about
Comment by LardLad00 at 02/02/2025 at 21:03 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is one of my favorite sites! Love the overhaul so far.
Comment by Training-Argument891 at 03/02/2025 at 00:59 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
thx for the fun my dude!
Comment by qwertylicious2003 at 03/02/2025 at 01:07 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Love it thank you!
Comment by Saintofthe6thHouse at 03/02/2025 at 03:53 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I used this all the time at my last job! Thank you for an amazing resource!
Comment by jockosrocket at 03/02/2025 at 04:29 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thank you!
Comment by Plastic-Radish at 02/02/2025 at 21:24 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is great! I was able to find my house in a 1960 photo and it looks like it was new construction since it doesn't have grass around it at that point. It really helps narrow down when it was built.
Comment by turbosigma at 03/02/2025 at 19:09 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I’ve heard that the entire United States was aerially photographed in 1938 in the war era, originally on film and microfiche, maybe. But a lot of it has been digitized (scanned, but not ortho-corrected), on a state level. I think this UW site had some 1941 aerials of northern parts of Vilas county, too.
Comment by Fast_Basket1087 at 02/02/2025 at 20:46 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Very cool