My ultimate goal is to eventually post a comprehensive list of all reports relating to Philadelphia’s water supply, from the late 18th century to the present, with links to PDFs of each. It may be a while before I complete that task, but in the meantime I want to share what I have either found […]
This post is where this website (under a couple of different names) began more than 20 years ago. The text is still the same, but I have added new maps and new high-resolution images that are worth checking out.
Learn more about the upcoming 200th birthday of Pennsylvania’s pioneering slackwater-canal system.
These posters from 1942 promote a timeless message.
It wasn’t raining cats and dogs, but somehow a cat and a dog got stuck in the sewer. On National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day, I offer these stories of their respective rescues.
Marshland and more from the state across the river.
Missing a plane, the old-fashioned way: by human error.
When it comes to mapmaking, more is not necessarily better (but sometimes it is).
The Philadelphia and South Jersey waterfront on the eve of World War II.
TITLE BLOCK Map of a reconnaissance of the approaches to Philadelphia showing the positions and lines of defence on the north front of the city. Made under the direction of A.D. Bache, Supt. U.S. Coast Survey, Engineer in Charge of the Defences ; general field reconnaissance by George Davidson, Assistant U.S. Coast Survey ; details […]
These maps document four years spent looking for an alternative drinking water sources for Philadelphia in the mid-1880s. After all that work, the supply stayed the same – the dirty Delaware and smelly Schuylkill.
The Schuykill River near the peak of its industrial might, in 1913.
From the city to the shore to the mountains, this fun, colorful map has it all.