Early photographs of Fairmount and vicinity, 1848
January 16, 2024
Some of the oldest photographs of any Philadelphia scenes depict the Fairmount Water Works.
Early visions of Philadelphia’s airport
January 16, 2024
Air travel has changed dramatically in the past 90 years, devolving from an exciting new form of travel into just another form of mass transit.
Frankford Creek Watershed: A historical overview of the Philadelphia section
January 16, 2024
A summary of important infrastructure changes in the Frankford Creek watershed within the city.
Report on channelization of Frankford Creek for flood control (1947)
January 15, 2024
An important report that oulined a project that forever changed the course of one of the city’s largest creeks.
Fishing in Philadelphia
January 9, 2024
Who knew how many fish lived in the rivers and streams around Philadelphia? Not me!
Frankford Creek Watershed Historical Timeline
January 8, 2024
A classic post from PhillyH2o, refreshed with new high-resolution images.
Down Under III: A walk in the Dobson’s Run Storm Relief Sewer, June 15, 2010
January 8, 2024
Photos from my third trip into a sewer, this time a clean one.
Requiem for a stream: A brief history of Dobson’s Run
January 8, 2024
History of a stream that once flowed through the East Falls neighborhood.
Drawing Dock Creek
January 8, 2024
Dock Creek history brought to life as part of a 2008 exhibit at the American Philosophical Society Museum.
Down Under, Part 2: Beaver Creek as it appears today
January 8, 2024
Photos from my second trip into a sewer, a steamy journey in a series of pipes in University City.
Bottled vs. Tap in 1906
January 7, 2024
Just because the water is clear doesn’t make it safe to drink.
MEET YOUR ENEMY: THE RAT
January 7, 2024
Musings on one of the city’s most pervasive creatures – Rattus norvegicus.
Song of the Sewer (1954)
January 6, 2024
The theme song for my work for PWD.
Stormwater Songs by John and Jan Haigis
January 5, 2024
A Darby, Pa. couple’s songs about stormwater, with Youtube Links to help you sing them.
Cobbs Creek in the Days of the Old Powder Mill
January 2, 2024
An old book with timeless photos of rural scenes in West Philadelphia.
A Tour of Philadelphia’s Delaware River Waterfront in 1876
January 2, 2024
Text from 1876 illustrated with rare images from before and after.
1826 Report of the Committee of Delaware County on the subject of Manufactories, Unimproved Mill Seats, etc. in said county.
January 2, 2024
This report is arranged by the creeks along which the mills were situated. It gives a detailed view of the area’s former industrial past, providing the amount and worth of products, number of employees and other information for the county’s 158 mills. Streams mentioned include: Cobb’s Creek, Darby Creek, Mukinipates Creek, Crum Creek, Ridley Creek, […]
1882 Report from the Army Corps of Engineers on Navigation in Frankford Creek, Philadelphia
January 2, 2024
Report on the difficulties of navigation on Frankford Creek in Philadelphia, which ahd been decalred a navigable stream by the Federal Ggovernment in 1798.
Drought and the Gardener
January 1, 2024
An old article of mine about the absence of water, refreshed with beautiful photographs.
Kensington Water Supply in 1883
January 1, 2024
Located on the Delaware River just below where the Aramingo Canal emptied into the river, the Kensington Water Works served up a disgusting brew of polluted drinking water for decades after it was opened in 1851. Health records from the period show a higher death rate from typhoid fever and other water-borne diseases in the […]
Requiem for a stream: Adams Run in Oak Lane
December 31, 2023
Adams Run, in Philadelphia’s Oak Lan neighbrohood, could have been saved – but wasn’t.
Requiem for a stream: Still House Run in Manayunk
December 30, 2023
One of many small streams in Manayunk and Roxborough that became part of the city’s sewer infrastructure.
Filling Low Land: A Story of Ash-Dumping in the Wingohocking Creek Watershed
December 28, 2023
How trolley cars played a part in the landfill operation in the city’s Logan neighborhood.
The Manayunk Expressway
December 27, 2023
The story of one of many highways in Philadelphia that never got off the drawing board.