CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS

The first room also featured a group of vintage Thomas Airviews of Lower Manhattan from the Society's collection that record the transformation of the district from the 1940s through the 1970s. These black-and-white photos, printed from 8 x 10 negatives, reveal both extraordinary detail of individual buildings and, over time, document panoramas of change. The most striking difference over the decades takes place at the island's edge where the dozens of finger piers that lined both riverfronts disappeared through removal, collapse, or under landfill. The Thomas Airviews chronicle the clearing and excavation of the World Trade Center site and the progress of the towers' construction. Other photographs in this section capture lost views from ground level of the Washington Market urban renewal area just north of the Twin Towers.

Currently, 24 of the Thomas Airviews can be viewed by clicking on the link to the right.