Aerial Photography in Record Group 328: Records of the National Capital Planning Commission in Special List 25

Aerial photographs for RG 328: Records of the National Capital Planning Commission includes photography of Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas. The indexes for these photographs can be found in the series Indexes to Aerial Photography of the National Capital Planning Commission, 1927 - 1973. The indexes are scanned and can be viewed and downloaded here. These indexes lead to photography in various different series, which can be found here. You can match the coverage years from the indexes to the years listed for the photography in the Catalog. The photographs are digitized and available in the listed series in our Catalog.

You can start your search for these photographs either by using the indexes or seeing what coverage is available for specific counties and areas by using Special List 25, available for download digitally here and in the Cartographic Research Room.

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Special List 25, RG 328 Aerial Photography, District of Columbia

The "Filed Under" field as well as the date listed will tell you which series the photographs are in and which indexes to use. For example, the indexes for "1942, Aerial Photography of Washington, DC" can be found here: Index for 1942 Aerial Photography of Washington, DC and the photographs can be found in the series Aerial Photography of Washington, D.C., 1942.

The indexes for these photographs are photomosaics and maps.

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RG 328, Indexes to Aerial Photography of the National Capital Planning Commission, Index for 1971 Aerial Photography of Washington, DC

You can search the index for your area of interest.

The frame number on each image corresponds to a scanned photographic print in the Catalog. For example, frame 6-47 from the index would correspond to the following photograph:

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RG 328, Aerial Photography of Washington DC, 1971, Exposure 6-47

The photograph can be downloaded from the Catalog by clicking the blue down arrow under the image.

The usefulness of the indexes vary depending on the series of photographs you are using. For some series, you may find not find the indexes helpful for locating specific photographs. The indexes can be helpful as a starting point, but for some photographs, it is easier to just look through the scans to see what coverage is available. All of the photographs for RG 328 are digitized and available in the Catalog.

If you have any questions about these photographs, you can email us at carto@nara.gov.