Articles

  • Cobbs Creek: A Brief Historical Overview by Adam Levine

    This brief overview was written in 2005 as part of my research into Cobbs Creek for the PWD Office of Watersheds. During the course of this work, I gathered hundreds of historical images of the watershed. Many were taken from old atlases of Philadelphia, Delaware and Montgomery counties, housed at the Free Library of Philadelphia…

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    Cobbs Creek: A Brief Historical Overview by Adam Levine
  • Glossary of Drainage Terms by C. Drew Brown

    Drew Brown was PWD’s Manager of Public Education for many years. He was my first point of contact with the department in 1997, when I interviewed him for my “Down Under!” article. I have also collaborated with him on a number of public education projects, including the Wingohocking Watershed Tour, for which he created this…

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    Glossary of Drainage Terms by C. Drew Brown
  • Manayunk and the Schuylkill Navigation

    The following brief historical overview, written by Adam Levine in 2014 for the Philadelphia Water Department and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, focuses specifically on the transportation aspects of the Schuylkill Navigation and the Manayunk Canal. The history of the community and industries that grew up in Manayunk and elsewhere after the construction of the canal…

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    Manayunk and the Schuylkill Navigation
  • The Water Works of the City of Philadelphia. The Story of their Development and Engineering Specifications.

    This 17-chapter history provides both historical overviews and technical specifications for all the pumping stations built by the city up to 1931. Compiled by Walter A. Graf (Staff Engineer, The Budd Company, Philadelphia), with the assistance of Sidney H. Vought and Clarence E. Robson. This online version was created from an original typescript volume in…

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    The Water Works of the City of Philadelphia. The Story of their Development and Engineering Specifications.
  • History of East Park Reservoir, Philadelphia, Pa., 1869-1889

    This report was compiled by Jane Mork Gibson, PWD Historical Consultant, in May 2009. The notes used to compile this history follow the main narrative report, below the reservoir diagram. The East Park Reservoir took almost twenty years to build. The need for a large storage reservoir in Philadelphia became apparent in 1869 after an…

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    History of East Park Reservoir, Philadelphia, Pa., 1869-1889
  • The Water and Drainage History of Philadelphia: A seven-part course

    This course is worth your time. Really. PWD web editor Justin Martin tells you why. A little explanation might be necessary here. You can make the argument, without a whole lot of strain, that the viability of a city goes hand-in-hand with its ability to manage its water supply. If a city’s residents don’t have…

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    The Water and Drainage History of Philadelphia: A seven-part course
  • Watersheds: Learning to care for and protect our local water resources

    This article, by Adam Levine, originally appeared in the November 1999 issue of Green Scene, the magazine of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. It was an attempt to relate the complicated topic of watershed preservation to the home gardener, and to do it in less than 1600 words. You can find much more information on Philadelphia Water Department…

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    Watersheds: Learning to care for and protect our local water resources
  • Andorra Run, aka Wise’s Mill Run: A brief overview of this Northwest Philadelphia watershed

    Adam Levine’s report on this Wissahickon Creek tributary first appeared on PhillyH2o in 2009, and was updated in 2024. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW: This small watershed covers about 446 acres in the Roxborough and Andorra neighborhoods on the western flank of the Wissahickon Valley. Until the mid-20th century, the watershed was mostly rural, with scattered homes and…

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    Andorra Run, aka Wise’s Mill Run: A brief overview of this Northwest Philadelphia watershed