Items

Historic resources from our archives - images, maps, documents, and more.

Birch’s Views of Philadelphia, 1800

Colored ink drawing showing drainage areas and sewer inlets in Philaelphia in the early 19th century

Drainage area plan, early 19th century

Philadelphia from Belmont, West Park (Picturesque America)

Schuylkill River from below the South Street Bridge, 1873

Gritty and the Phanatic in Ida’s Floodwaters

Fourth of July in Centre Square, John Lewis Krimmel, ca. 1812. The wooden statue in the fountain, “Allegory of the Schuylkill River (Water Nymph and Bittern)”, was carved in 1809 by Philadelphia sculptor William Rush.

Fourth of July, Centre Square, ca. 1812

Second Bank of Pennsylvania, South Second Street, Philadelphia

A section of wooden water pipe, long out of service, removed from a Philadelphia street in 1901. It had been installed about 1801.

Wooden Water Pipe, removed from Market Street, December 6, 1901

Centre Square Engine House, location of one of two steam engines used in the city’s original water system. Engraving by Birch.

Centre Square Engine House, ca. 1807

Black-and-white image of a body of water with trees and shoreline in the far distance

Delaware River at Arch Street from the New Jersey side, 1914

Color image showing lines drawn on grass, a road, a small underpass, trees and some caption text

Drawing Dock Creek (2008)

Goal (jail) in Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 1800