Archives West Finding Aid

Brubaker Aerial Surveys was founded by William "Bill" Cary Brubaker in Portland, Oregon. Brubaker was possibly the first aerial photographer in the Portland area. He was born in Huntington, Indiana, on March 23, 1885. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1905, and he served on the Battleship Oregon and other ships. During this time, he learned to use a camera for official Navy photographs and developed an interest in photography. Following his discharge, Brubaker took flying lessons from pilot Jack Clements.

In 1922, recognizing that he was too busy with photography to get his pilot's certificate, Brubaker began barnstorming and taking aerial photographs to sell to property owners. He built his own aerial camera from cherry wood in 1921. In 1924, he purchased a professional Eastman topographic mapping camera, and later that year he founded Brubaker Aerial Surveys, the first aerial mapping business in the Northwest. Jobs included mapping the Bull Run watershed for the City of Portland, mapping a dam site for the Puget Sound Power & Light Co., and mapping Mount St. Helens. After World War II, Leonard Delano, who worked for Brubaker, bought out the company and continued to do aerial mapping. Brubaker spent his retirement building vacation homes near Yachats, Oregon, and died on August 13, 1985, in Canby, Oregon, after celebrating his 100th birthday that March.

Sources: "Service set for pioneer in aerial photography," Oregonian, August 20, 1985; Richards, Leverett, "Aerial photography pioneer remembers barnstorming days," Oregonian, March 16, 1985.