Upcoming events with Adam Levine, WHPHL Webmaster

July 11, 10:30 am to 1:30 pm
Wingohocking Watershed Tour

Sponsored by Cliveden and the Philadelphia Water Department

This popular bus tour will follow the course of the historic Wingohocking Creek, now mostly buried in a sewer. We’ll visit a remnant of the stream and other highlights on the way to the outfall at Frankford Creek. Register at this link.

Robert’s Mill, along Wingohocking Creek, as painted by August Kollner in 1870, just before the building was demolished. This image is one of about 100 on display in the LOST CREEKS exhibit listed at the top of the page. (Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Print and Picture Collection)

PAST EVENTS

January 23 to May 23, 2026
Lost Creeks of Philadelphia:
Burying the Streams, Building the City

The photograph in this poster shows the sewer being built to carry Wingohocking Creek under Courtland Street, in what became the city’s Logan neighborhood. On July 11 I’ll be leading a tour of this mostly-hidden watershed.

An exhibit co-curated by Adam E. Levine
and Joseph E. B. Elliott

Between the 1760s and the 1960s, hundreds of miles of the Philadelphia’s surface streams were channeled into underground sewers — some more than 20 feet across — that became integral to the drainage of the expanding urban grid. Burying streams was one of many drastic alterations to the city’s original landscape that provided a more level surface for its buildings and streets. Using maps and plans, drawings and paintings, and old and modern photographs, The Lost Creeks of Philadelphia reveals why and how this work was done and shows how this work still affects the city today. This exhibit challenges the way visitors look at any city, reminding us that what we see on the surface tells only part of the story.

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia
219 S. 6th Street, Philadelphia
(215) 925-2688
https://philaathenaeum.org/


May 9, 2026
Poquessing Creek Watershed Tour

Sponsored by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia as part of its “Trail of Poquessing History” project.
For more information and to register for this free event, visit this link.

This is a reprise of a fun and informative tour that PAGP sponsored in October 2025, which explores a little-known creek located along on the northeast boundary of the city. To view a short teaser video made during the tour, click here.


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