Reprinted from 
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING 
December 
1952 
HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY IN 
THE UNITED STATES 
David Landen, Research and Technical Control Branch, 
U. S. Geological Survey 
CONTENTS 
Page 
1. Introduction... ......….………..8<e0e0e eue ee EUR Rn 1 
H. Government Activities: in Phôtogrammetry..........................…...….….…...….... 2 
Coast and Geodetic Survey... ii. oh i sa ide dl Lae et 2 
Geological Survey... vi i i a Tih dee ab se ie a ar ee nab 4 
Corps of Engincers.…. +++"... hua, ea Ce 13 
Anny Map Service... RA bie sie nine te a hale ee sae es 20 
Tennessee Valley Authority.....-.--++-.-..<.<<<""ete+1e0e armee ue ee nana ee 22 
Air Force-Wright Field... ....:…......6.2e 1 eee eue nee eee ee een ane n 0 23 
Aeronautical Chart and Information Service........... me aa 24 
Navy Hydrographic ORCE. ov oe ier de Fo es ddd es dis Tuas 25 
Navy Photographic Interpretation Center........,........................... 26 
“National Bureau of Standards.................. -..…...………..….….….... ees 26 
‘Agricultural Adjustment Administration...............…...-.-..-.‘+..°ve++e+ 28 
Forest Service... eee do ees eei e eese sepe eisieiesieM edes net ne SR wn 28 
Soil Conservation Service... le e eoe eo sese eee ce emnes nen Mis 31 
Soil Survey... 142-2511 e rente ea aa aie 3 4 5408 Bove atin ns Wine in Wn 32 
IL. Commercial Activities. in Photogrammetry........ cio sede ain ide sass 33 
AD ANG vr leto tese ee oru ee ee RAN NAM Muda a I RAN 33 
Bausch and Lomb........... a eal rl 34 
Brock and Weymouth... .. Eee een eue due UN ae CU ee de ae 35 
‘Aero Service Corporation. -!.....................+. se a ee ssi Seti a 35 
otf BR RE en ae Te Se Bee ER A Ea A ee 38 
; IV. Educational and Scientific Activities... .... ci. vue Shi cain cairn es 43 
American Geographical Society... :....... 0000er rennen nennen 43 
Education ih N ese sua NK er ec 44 
American Society .of Photogrammetry... os ci viii oly sens tata niin sin hivign vines 44 
I. INTRODUCTION 
EARLY HISTORY 
OLLOWING the invention of the 
‘ daguerrotype in 1829 by N. Niepce and 
L. J. M. Daguerre, the French geodesist 
Arago was quick to grasp the significance 
of the photograph as a precise perspective 
representation of the landscape. Arago, in 
1840 forecast the application of the daguer- 
rotype in making topographic maps by the 
principles of perspective geometry before 
members of the French Chamber of 
Deputies in Paris and advocated its use by 
topographers. Previous to this, about 1749, 
Beautemps-Beaupré, a hydrographer, had 
utilized the principles of perspective and 
intersection to make a series of surveys of 
the coastal regions of Tasmania from free- 
hand perspective sketches. In 1849, Aimé 
Laussedat, an officer in the Engineer 
Corps of the French Army, began a series 
of researches with photographs for the 
compilation of topographic maps; these 
studies, carried on over a long period of 
years, caused Laussedat to be known as 
the ‘‘Father of Photogrammetry" 
In the United States, the first known 
application of aerial photogrammetry was 
by the Union Army in May, 1862 when 
captive balloons were used to photograph 
on a glass plate the terrain near Rich- 
mond.! 
Balloons and kites were used in the early 
days of aerial photography, possibly be- 
ginning in 1858 with Laussedat's work 
with a glass-plate camera supported by a 
balloon. In 1893 C. B. Adams of the 
U. S. Army patented the principle of 
making maps with photographs taken 
from balloons by means of intersection; 
this has been the basis of the widely-used 
radial-line method (U. S. Patent 510758). 
1 Reed, Lieut. Henry A., U. S. Army. “Photography Applied to Surveying.” Page 54. John 
Wiley & Sons, 1888. 
1