Detail map of Boston, Massachusetts, United States Overview map of Boston, Massachusetts, United States

A: Boston, Massachusetts, United States

"Boston as the Eagle and Wild Goose See It": the First Clear Photographic Aerial View of a City

10/13/1860
Black's aerial photograph of Boston
Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See ItMetropolitan Museum of Art.

In collaboration with balloon navigator Samuel A. King on King's hot-air balloon, the "Queen of the Air," on October 13, 1860 American photographer James Wallace Black photographed Boston from a tethered balloon at 1,200 feet, producing 8 plates of glass negatives, 10 1/16 x 7 15/16 in. One good print resulted, which Black titled "Boston as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It." This was the first clear aerial image of a city.  The original photograph is preserved in the Boston Public Library. This photograph is especially significant because much of the area photographed was destroyed in the Great Boston Fire of 1872.

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