Aerial Photos

There are multiple years of aerial photography that is viewable on our Interactive Map viewer. Here are the years available along with a short description of the imagery source and time period the imagery was gathered. You can also click on links at the left to download imagery in PDF maps.

1937: USDA, September-October
1950: USGS
1955: FSA
1961: FSA
1967: FSA
1978: FSA
1985: NHAP, May
1992: NAPP, April 1991/92
1996: NAPP, September
2002: NAIP, June-August
2003: NAIP
2005: NAIP, June
2007: Aerometric, April-May (6” resolution)
2008: NAIP, June
2009: NAIP, June-August
2010: NAIP, August-September
2011: Aerometric, May (1’ resolution)
2014: Aerometric, April-May (6” resolution)
2015: NAIP, August-September
2018: Ayers, May (4" resolution)
2022: 95 West, April (4" resolution)

Aerial Photos

1950 Aerial Photos

Large hardcopy photos were scanned, tiled, merged, and processed out into assembled aerial photo maps.

There is 1 map for each township. There are a few areas within each township that do not have aerial photography. These photos have been well used as there are several areas with writing, camera observation angles and approximate edge matching, but they are still a good resource to consider in performing various analyses.

Downloadable Files:
Acoma 1950
Bergen 1950
Collins 1950
Glencoe 1950
Hale 1950
Hassan Valley 1950
Helen 1950
Hutchinson 1950
Lynn 1950
Penn 1950
Rich Valley 1950
Round Grove 1950
Sumter 1950
Winsted 1950

1967 Aerial Photos

The University of Minnesota Wilson Library provided us access to their hardcopy photos which were scanned by McLeod County GIS Staff. The downloadable file below contains an index of the aerial photos tiles. Please use the index to determine your area of interest. Then contact GIS Staff to request the tile you need. The long range plan is to create a mosaic of the 1967 aerials and add them to our interactive GeoMoose mapping. For now though, these images are available individually.

This is an example of one tile. WL-12HH-44 is the name of the tile you'd be requesting for this area.

a sample of an index of the aerial photos

Downloadable Files:
1967 Aerial Photo Index

1996 Aerial Photos

This aerial imagery is from NAPP (National Aerial Photography Program) and was gathered in September of 1996 to show changes in land use, municipality growth, and geographic features. The photos have been sorted by township and are available for download in PDF format.

Downloadable Files:
Acoma Township
Bergen Township
Collins Township
Glencoe Township
Hale Township
Hassan Valley Township
Helen Township
Hutchinson Township
Lynn Township
Penn Township
Rich Valley Township
Round Grove Township
Sumter Township
Winsted Township

2003 Aerial Photos

This aerial imagery is from NAIP (National Agriculture Imagery Program) and was gathered in 2003 to show agricultural growing seasons throughout the country. The photos have been sorted by township and are available for download in PDF format.

2005 Aerial Photos

This aerial imagery is from NAIP (National Agriculture Imagery Program) and was gathered in June 2005 to show agricultural growing seasons throughout the country. The photos have been sorted by township and are available for download in PDF format.

Downloadable Files:
Acoma Township
Bergen Township
Biscay Township
Collins Township
Glencoe Township
Hale Township
Hassan Valley Township
Helen Township
Hutchinson Township
Lynn Township
Penn Township
Rich Valley Township
Round Grove Township
Sumter Township
Winsted Township

2014 Aerial Photos

This aerial imagery was gathered by Aerometric (now Quantum Spatial) and funded by a partnership between multiple counties, municipalities, and the State of Minnesota. Imagery was gathered in April and May of 2014 after snow cover was gone, but before full tree canopy was present. The imagery is 6” resolution and is available to view on the

Interactive Map Viewer

Aerial Photos

Aerial Photos

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