McLaughlin Historic Aerial Surveys
Before founding the company that became a leader in the field of technical documentation for the military during World War II, and which still bears his name as it continues to be a leading provider of technical and management solutions for government and industry into the 21st century, Charles H. McLaughlin was a pioneer in another field during the early part of the 20th century: aerial photography. For a trip back in time to the skies above New York City and other well-known destinations in the 1930's, as seen through Charley McLaughlin's lens, put on your leather cap and goggles, fasten your seatbelt, and view the images below.
New York City
Battery Park on southern tip of Manhattan Island, 1937. (Photo published on the cover of the September 1937 edition of the Interborough Bulletin.)
New York City – Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan and Central Park, 1936. (Photo published in the May 1936 edition of the Interborough Bulletin.)
New York City – Plaza District
Plaza District of Manhattan and Central Park, 1936. (Number 9 in a series of aerial views of New York City. Photo published in the February 24-28, 1936, New York edition of Current Events, The National School Newspaper.)
New York City – Ocean Liners
Ocean liners Normandie, Europa, and Resolute alongside Hudson River piers, 1936. (Number 12 in a series of aerial views of New York City. Photo published in the April 6-10, 1936, New York edition of Current Events, The National School Newspaper.)
New York's Triborough Bridge
With the Hell Gate Bridge in the background, New York City's Triborough Bridge being built, 1935. (The bridge would be dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Saturday, July 11, 1936.) (Photo published in various newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times on Sunday, December 29, 1935, the August 1936 edition of The American City, and on souvenir postcards (shown).)
1939 New York World's Fair
Flushing Meadows marshland that would become the site of the New York World's Fair in 1939. (Photo published in the New York Post on Saturday, November 2, 1935.)
1939 New York World's Fair
Workers rush to complete construction of New York World's Fair in time for April 1939 opening. (Photo published in the New York Herald Tribune on Sunday, January 15, 1939.)
1939 New York World's Fair
Serving as a giant sundial, the 700-foot Trylon casts its shadow across the top of the 200-foot Perisphere one hour after the opening of the New York World's Fair on Sunday, April 30, 1939. (Photo published in the New York Times on Sunday, May 7, 1939, and in the May 15, 1939 edition of LIFE magazine.)
Aviation
Sport plane piloted by Ted Herbert, of Roosevelt Field, flies past Manhattan, 1937. Newspaper touted plane as solution to "New York's latest traffic problem." It was powered by "a V-8 automobile engine, which can be taken from a Ford and installed in the plane when the owner decides to quit the road and take to the air." (Photo published in the Rotogravure Picture Section of The New York Times, Sunday, February 28, 1937.)
Future LaGuardia Airport
Artist's conception of proposed improvements to Glenn Curtiss Airport, showing the area to be enlarged by purchase of adjoining land and by filling in 357 acres of waterfront along the east side. (Ground would be broken on September 9, 1937 for a new airport, which was to be built jointly by the city and the Federal Works Progress Administration. It would be dedicated on October 15, 1939 as New York City Municipal Airport, and on November 2, 1939, the name would be changed to New York Municipal Airport--LaGuardia Field. On December 2 of that year, New York's new airport would be opened to commercial traffic.) (Photo published in The New York Times, Sunday, December 9, 1934.)
Queen Mary
Manhattan skyline forms an impressive backdrop for the ocean liner Queen Mary upon her arrival in July 1936. (Interboro News, July 1936.)
