Lower Manhattan Aerial Photo, NYC

Aerial photo showing the Financial District in Lower Manhattan from the East River. Photograph dated January 13, 1928 (2 P.M.). Source: Airscapes - New York City. Mitchel Field, N.Y., Records of the Army Air Forces / U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

At the time, the city's development was in full swing. In the first decades of the 20th century, the largest buildings in the world were built here. This dizzying growth slowed after 1929, with the Great Depression.