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

Birch’s Views of Philadelphia, 1800

Colored print showin all the booths, restaurants and other amenities of the fair

Ground Plan, Great Central Sanitary Fair, Philadelphia

“Fairmount Waterworks. From the forebay.” (From nature & on stone G. Lehman; Published by C.G. Childs & G. Lehman, 1833. Free Library of Philadelphia, Print & Picture Collection)

Fairmount Water Works from the forebay, 1833

This 1838 view of the Fairmount Water Works with the Schuylkill River in the distance, by John T. Bowen, “captures the pleasures of Fairmount in its heyday,” writes historian Jane Mork Gibson. “The neat beauty of the works set into a gentle landscape, steep paths and steps that offered an exhilirating contrast to the general flatness of Philadelphia, as well as the excitement of boat races on the river and refreshments offered in the former Engine House, all prompted the admiring comments of visitors.”

Fairmount Water Works and the Schuylkill River, 1838

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

Southeast Corner of Third and Market Streets, Philadelphia

Southeast Corner of Third and Market, Philadelphia

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

A Day in the Ma’sh – Rail-Shooting

Black-and-white image shows several people talking in the foreground and figures on horses on a hill in the background

A Day in the Ma’sh – Bell Snicklin’

Logan Demanding Flood Relief, 8/18/38

Frankford Creek Overflows, 11/1/32

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

Bridge Street Draw, southeast corner property, June 12, 1896