In this town's grungy, truly gritty days, long before Renaissance I and II, Peter P. Buettner flew over Downtown in a plane, capturing a part of the city in a panoramic black-and-white photograph.

The Point, three major bridges on the Allegheny River and the Joseph Horne's department store sign are visible. So is the grand, Beaux-Arts style Wabash Terminal that stood at Liberty Avenue and Stanwix Street.

Exposition buildings still stand in Point State Park while debris chokes the rivers. But there are few people or cars, giving the scene a "Twilight Zone" quality.

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For decades, the picture, which unfurls a full 8 feet in length, sat on a shelf in the Neville Island home of Peter "Buddy" Buettner Jr., the photographer's son and only child. He died on Jan. 14, 2006.

Now, his widow, Linda, hopes someone can figure out what year her father-in-law took this remarkable photograph. All of her husband's relatives are dead, so she has no one to ask.

She's also searching for more biographical information about her late father-in-law, who learned how to take pictures while serving with the Signal Corps during World War I and left behind a trove of images from that conflict. He was born Oct. 4, 1886. After serving in World War I, he left the military on Aug. 9, 1919, returned to Pittsburgh, married Blanche and settled in Mt. Lebanon. She died in 1940, and Mr. Buettner later married Dorothy.

"He died in 1956, and I was only born in 1950," Linda Buettner said, adding that her husband showed her the panoramic view after they married in 1990.

Mrs. Buettner remembered the photo after she read a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story about the current exhibition at The Frick, "A Panorama of Pittsburgh: Nineteenth Century Printed Views."

If nothing else, the Buettner photograph shows just how much work needed to be done before Pittsburgh underwent Renaissance I and II and how much the city has improved.

If you know when the photograph was taken or have information about the photographic career of Peter Buettner, please e-mail Marylynne Pitz at mpitz@post-gazette.com or call her at 412-263-1648.