Aerial photographs of Cuyahoga County, Ohio
This collection presents historical aerial photographs of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The earliest to cover the region, these aerial photographs were taken during the years 1937-1938 by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration of the USDA. The digital images presented here were scanned from original film negatives in the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Taken at a scale of 1:20,000, the photographs are of high quality, making diverse uses in historical research possible. In particular, aerial photographs are a vital resource for the analysis of land use, development, and environmental change.
Using the collection
The collection contains 435 individual black and white images, whose locations are shown in mosaic keys. The date of acquisition is often shown in the upper left corner of the photograph. In addition, the collection presents a composite layer of georeferenced and merged images covering the entire county.
About the project
The aerial photographs were digitized, georeferenced, and assembled by Kathryn Flinn and Zachary Hughes with help from Stephen Mather, as part of the project published as:
Flinn, K.M. and Z.R. Hughes. 2024. How a city shapes its forests: Land use change and forest distribution around Cleveland, Ohio over 220 years. Urban Ecosystems 27: 635-648.
This project was supported by Baldwin Wallace University. Kieth Peppers and Madeline Simmons '24, created the digital archive.
GIS Files
All files associated with this collection can be accessed and downloaded using the following link: (all files)
Contact
For questions regarding the content and use of this collection, please contact Kathryn Flinn at kflinn@bw.edu. For technical questions about this website, please contact Kieth Peppers at kpeppers@bw.edu.
Kathryn Flinn is a plant ecologist and Professor of Biology. For more information, please see the lab website.
Zachary Hughes, '24, is a Biology major from Parma, Ohio. He hopes to pursue a career in wildlife conservation. Madeline Simmons, '24, is a Public History major from Garrettsville, Ohio.
