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 […]