Atlantic City, N.J., aerial panorama from captive airship

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Lead with what sets this view apart: it was taken from a captive airship tethered above Atlantic City, New Jersey, so the camera looks down on the resort's boardwalk, hotels and beach from a height few photographers could reach at the time. Tethered airships of this kind were used for aerial photography and sightseeing in the early twentieth century, when a cable held the craft in place and allowed passengers and cameras to rise over a fixed spot. Panoramic views like this one document how the seaside city was laid out, with its long shoreline and dense row of buildings, and they remain valuable for comparing the town's appearance across decades.

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