There is a very cool, very simple website that allows visitors to easily compare streets and buildings in a 1947 aerial view of Montreal with modern-day structures that appear in satellite images. The map was created about four years ago, but many are still just discovering it.
Between 1947 and 1949, the city of Montreal took a series of aerial photos of the entire Montreal island. The ability to compare some of these images to today was done by blogger Anton Dubrau, who worked with photos of downtown areas and the Plateau neighbourhood, and stitched them together. He then overlaid the final 1947 image with Google satellite images to create what he calls a mashup of maps.
Working with the Map feature that shows the street names, I found where my grandfather’s grocery store was located on Prince Arthur at the corner of Colonial. By clicking on 1947, I can see what the area looked like when he owned the store. To see the area today, I clicked on Satellite.
A YouTube video explains how it works:
Mr. Dubrau writes about maps and transportation on his blog, Catbus.
Now, if there was only a way to find an aerial view of Montreal taken in 1847…
