Penn Pilot, a project sponsored by the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, is an online library of digital historical aerial photography for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Using the interactive map provided on this website, you can browse, view, and download thousands of photos covering the Commonwealth from 1937 to 1942 and 1967 to 1972.
The photos were produced by the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Adjustment Administration (now known as the Farm Service Agency).
The original photos are black-and-white 9” x 9” and 9” x 7” prints with a scale of 1:20,000. Some northeastern counties were flown between 1967-1972 from a higher altitude; the scale of these photos is 1:40,000. The vegetation condition when flown was “leaf-on.”
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| Version | Pixels Per Inch (ppi) | Approx. Size (MB) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| low | 200 | 0.7 | fastest download |
| medium | 400 | 2.0 | suitable for most uses |
| high | 800 | 7.5 | original scan resolution |
No, the images are neither orthorectified, nor georeferenced. To enable browsing of the collection via a map, the approximate locations of photos were established by georeferencing associated county index sheets and digitizing point locations for each photo from the sheets.
We are unable to handle special orders. At this time, all data are provided through the Penn Pilot website.
At this time, the georeferenced county index sheets and photo center point datasets are not available for distribution.