Collections Philadelphia Water Department

Water History: Repurposing Old Infrastructure

Frankford Pumping Station, ca. 1900

Frankford Pumping Station Plans and Diagrams, 1870s

Fairmount Park topographical map, showing East Park Reservoir, 1872

Lower Dublin township map

Lower Dublin township in 1848

1949 National Board of Fire Underwriters map

Fire Underwriters’ Map, 1949

Navy Yard on the Delaware River (Picturesque America)

Noll’s New Official Guide Map of Philadelphia, 1897

Appletons' Journal Schuylkill, 1869

Fairmount and Schuylkill, Appletons’ Journal, 1869

Overhead image of the Fairmount Dam Fishway and the surrounding area, including the Art Museum, Boathouse Row and the Fairmount Water Works

Fairmount Dam Fish Ladder diagram

The Fairmount Dam Fishway sign, detailing how the fishway works and showing maps and images of fish migration and barriers along the Schuylkill River.

Fairmount Dam Fishway sign

PWD's Jason Cruz holds a striped bass

PWD’s Jay Cruz with a striped bass

An otter at the Fairmount Fishcam in 2005

Otter at Fairmount Water Works fishcam, 2005

Photo of a bearded man on a boat holding an American shad

PWD’s Joe Perillo holds an American shad near the Fairmount Fishway

Black-and-white etching of the Wire Bridge at Fairmount, 1873

Wire Bridge at Fairmount, with canal lock and esplanade, 1873

Photo of four men standing on the banks of the Schuylkill River on the last day of the Schuylkill Interceptor, December 20, 1956

Last gasp of the Schuylkill Interceptor, December 20, 1956

Pipe Aqueduct across Wissahickon Valley, 1868 (2004.057.0074.004)

Wissahickon Pipe Aqueduct, Roxborough to Mt. Airy, 1868

Wingohocking Sewer across Penn St.

Wingohocking Sewer across Penn St.

Girard Avenue Bridge, Fairmount Park

Girard Avenue Bridge, Fairmount Park, 1895

Diagram from sewage treatment plan for Philadelphia, 1912

Queen Lane Reservoir pumping station

Queen Lane Pumping Station, proposed design

A man in glasses listening to the street through stethoscopes (2012.002.0043)

Listening for leaks

Centre Square Water Works, Frederick Graff, Sr. Plans, 1799

men standing around a trench with pipes seen crossing through it. there is a steam engine on wheels behind them to the left, and a building in the background on the right with a sign they says Hotel Abbey, T G Schmidt & Sons, Pilsner & Puritan Beer.

Pipeline being laid in Wissahickon Avenue

Dauphin and Sydenham car crash, Jan. 17, 1978