Bear aerial photos, 1926 to today
Every historical aerial photo of Bear, Delaware published by the State of Delaware, from black-and-white 1930s farm surveys to 2024's six-inch color imagery. Compare any two years and download the area you need, free.
Bear grew from scattered farms into suburbs; the historic sets show the fields that came before today’s neighborhoods. Things worth looking for: the town center staying put while farmland around it turns into subdivisions, new roads and schools.
Open Bear in any year
Each button opens the viewer over Bear with that year loaded. Then zoom to your street, or type an address.
How to look up a specific address in Bear
- Open the viewer centered on Bear.
- Type the street address, a New Castle County parcel number (PIN), or GPS coordinates into Find a place.
- Click a year to load it, or shift-click a second year and use Swipe or Fade to compare.
- Press D to draw a box (or use the highlighted parcel) and download one year, or every year as a ZIP.
Questions
How far back do aerial photos of Bear go?
The viewer has State of Delaware FirstMap imagery for Bear going back to 1926, with later sets from 1937, 1954, 1961, 1968, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, 2021, 2022 and 2024. A few sets (1926, the Parks sets and the Hurricane Sandy set) cover only part of the state, and the viewer dims any year with no imagery at your spot.
Can I see my house in Bear in an old aerial photo?
Yes. Open the viewer, type your street address or parcel number, then click any year. The 1930s–1960s sets are 1–2 m per pixel, enough to see buildings, fields and roads. Recent sets such as 2022 and 2024 are about 6 inches per pixel, enough to see individual cars and driveways.
Can I download aerial photos of Bear?
Yes, for free. Draw a box or pick a parcel, choose one year or all of them, and download JPEG, PNG or GeoTIFF at the native resolution of each year. Downloads are built in your browser, and nothing is uploaded.
Who took these photos?
The historic black-and-white sets were flown for USDA farm programs (1937–1968). Later sets were flown for DelDOT and the State of Delaware by firms such as EarthData, Sanborn, Surdex and Hexagon. All are published through Delaware FirstMap.
Nearby
More of New Castle County: all New Castle County towns and years.