About the Collection
The 16 pairs of images in the Dallas Aerial Photographs, 1945 USDA Survey digital collection portray various locations in the Dallas metropolitan area, as well as Irving, Grand Prairie, and Hutchins. The original photographs were taken by the Army Air Forces for the United States Department of Agriculture and were developed by the Western Aerial Photographic Laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah. The purpose of the photographs was to survey farmland, which covered large portions of the Dallas area at the time.
SMU Libraries worked with regional historian George Cearley to identify essential features in the photos such as major roads, railways, and landmarks. In the digital collection, there are two versions of each image, labeled and unlabeled. Labeled images include George Cearley's annotations, which appear below the image. Each image contains a link to the corresponding labeled or unlabeled photograph.
