Comments:"Recreating the Oldest Aerial Photo - davidad (David A. Dalrymple)"
URL:http://blog.davidad.net/post/47278329434/recreating-the-oldest-aerial-photo
According to a Smithsonian blog, the oldest surviving aerial photo was taken in 1860 from a hot-air balloon over Boston. In 1863, it was described as “on the whole a remarkable success; but its greatest interest is in showing what we may hope to see accomplished in the same direction.”
click to enlarge
Using Google Earth and GIMP, I have attempted to visualize what it would look like if you took the same photograph in modern-day Boston.
Update: To easily compare the past and present images, click here.
The Old South Church at left center, easily the most noticeable building in the 1860 image, survives unchanged but is buried amongst larger buildings on all sides. Long Wharf in the top left is now much shorter, and almost completely hidden, though still identifiable. Trinity Church is entirely missing (lost to the Great Fire of 1872). Milk Street and Washington Street are no longer visible in the gaps between buildings, but their existence can still be inferred.