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

Schuylkill River from below the South Street Bridge, 1873

Philadelphia from Belmont, West Park (Picturesque America)

Chestnut Street Bridge, on the Schuylkill River (Picturesque America)

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

Wire Bridge at Fairmount, with canal lock and esplanade (Picturesque America)

Wire Bridge at Fairmount

Schuylkill Navigation lock at Fairmount (Picturesque America)

Schuylkill River from below the South Street Bridge, 1873

Girard Avenue Bridge, Fairmount Park

Girard Avenue Bridge, Fairmount Park, 1895

Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge at Manayunk, about 1895

Gritty and the Phanatic in Ida’s Floodwaters

Fairmount Gardens, with the Schuylkill Bridge. This 1839 engraving, published in London, shows a view of the South Garden from the walkways that brought visitors up the cliffside to the overlooks at the height of the reservoirs. The fountain used the pressure of the reservoirs and was a a delightful refreshment in hot weather, and a wonder at all times. One anachronistic element of this engraving is the Upper Ferry Bridge, which burned the year before the print was published. Harding’s Hotel, a popular resort, is at the western end of the bridge.

Fairmount Gardens with the Schuylkill Bridge, 1839

Fairmount Water Works, by W. H. Bartlett, 1839. This engraving from an 1839 painting by William Bartlett shows the porch added to the Engine House about 1835 and the two gazebos built at the same time, all added to welcome visitors to the Water Works and a new saloon, or restaurant, in the Engine House. The powerful jet of water rising from the fountain in the South Garden, fed by a dedicated pipe under the full pressure of the reservoir, was depicted against the green foliage on the west slope of Faire Mount, near the east end of the Colossus. A barge is making its way downstream through the canal, headed under the Colossus to the busy port city of Philadelphia.

Fairmount Water Works, W.H. Bartlett, 1839

View from the Inclined Plane, near Philadelphia, 1838

View from the Inclined Plane near Philadelphia, 1838