Items

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

High Water: An Informal History of Flooding in Philadelphia

Rebirth of the Rivers: Water History Video 3

Pennypack Park and Creek map, Roland Williams, 2005

Pennypack Park Map

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

Black-and-white reproduction of the title page of an old periodical

Images from “A Day in the Ma’sh” by Maurice F. Egan, Scribner’s Monthly, July 1881

Black-and-white drawing of two cabins with a wooden walkway in front

A Day in the Ma’sh – At CLXIV Canal Boat St.

Black-and-white image of two men in a boat with guns

A Day in the Ma’sh – Rail-Shooting

Logan Demanding Flood Relief, 8/18/38

Frankford Creek Overflows, 11/1/32

Sewer Demand Taken to City Hall, 7/25/32

The City and Port of Philadelphia on the River Delaware from Kensington, 1800

Fairmount, bird's eye view from Lemon Hill (detail)

Fairmount Park, bird’s eye view from Lemon Hill, detail