Roxborough Water Works – A Brief History
January 22, 2025
While the pumping station is gone, other pieces of this important part of the city’s water system have been dedicated to other uses.
Water Department Newsletters, 1959-1997
January 20, 2025
These employee newsletters offer a more intimate view of the Philadelphia Water Department than the more formal, public-facing annual reports.
Water Bureau Newspaper Scrapbook, 1942-1952
December 27, 2024
Extra! Extra! Read all about the city’s water and sewer infrastructure 80-some years ago. One warning: it wasn’t a pretty picture.
Map Lovers’ Monday: Circles of Destruction
November 4, 2024
How the government used circles on maps during the Cold War.
The Schuylkill Navigation: A Journey on the Historic Nineteenth Century Waterway
October 31, 2024
An excellent overview of this innovative transportation system, which is older than the Erie Canal.
Thomas Gill Maps of the Schuylkill Navigation, 1827
October 30, 2024
108 watercolor maps showing the Schuylkill Navigation in 1827. This hidden gem, from the Pennsylvania State Archives, is hidden no longer.
Map Lovers’ Monday: Philadelphia Topography
October 28, 2024
A colorful map showing elevations in the city, from 0 to over 400 feet.
Map Lovers’ Monday: AQUA, in the beginning
October 21, 2024
The region’s largest private water supplier continues to grow, and grow, and grow…
Map Lovers’ Monday: Philadelphia Geology, 1881
October 14, 2024
The bright colors of geological maps always lure me in.
Buried Treasures No. 2: Williamson Bros. Company
October 8, 2024
Is it any surprise that this North Philadelphia industrial establishment has been replaced by a shopping mall?
Map Lovers’ Monday: Two views of the Union Canal in central Pennsylvania
October 7, 2024
Rare maps of a mostly-forgotten Pennsylvania canal.
Map Lovers’ Monday: Philadelphia in 1957, according to the Pennsy
September 30, 2024
A 1957 map brochure from the Pennsylvania Railroad