Old world Boston! Oldest Aerial Photograph of America (1860) + 1872 Great Fire. Compare / Contrast

Howdy ya’ll.
Today we will be looking at the oldest aerial photograph of an American City, taken in Boston, Massachusetts in 1860. This “aerial photograph” was achieved via the hot air balloon, making for a somewhat blurry, yet completely revealing photograph of the city, which we will view in depth. Antiquitech, Tunnels, Castles, Factories, Hundreds of multi-story Buildings. What we see in the 1860 image, at least much of it, was lost in the Great Fire of Boston in 1872.

We will dive into some photographs after the fire, with our focus on a panoramic shot of Boston the day after the great fire of 1872. We will compare and contrast. I’ll leave some time stamps and links down below for your extended viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Time stamps -

Intro - 0:01
1860 Aerial Photograph of Boston - 8:32
1872 Great Fire of Boston - 12:49

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Boston

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Boston_Fire_of_1872