Items

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

Birch’s Views of Philadelphia, 1800

Wingohocking Sewer across Penn St.

Wingohocking Sewer across Penn St.

Cartoon depicting William Penn toasting the Devil with a glass of filtered water

“Speeding the Parting Guest,” Feb. 25, 1909

William Penn balks at drinking the "mixed drink" offered him: Schuylkill water, mixed with pollution from the upstream sources named. Editorial cartoon by Fred Morgan, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 6, 1899. One of a series of cartoons drawn by Morgan protesting the state of the city's drinking water and trying to encourage the passage of legislation authorizing the construction of a water filtration system.

“A Decidedly Mixed Drink,” April 6, 1899

This Philadelphia street scene, with dogs facing off with pigs for a pile of tasty garbage, was captured by artist Augustus Kollner in 1844, but would have been very familiar to 18th-century Philadelphians.

“Town street scavengers from life,” Kollner, 1844

Water, Water Everywhere – Philadelphia Record, 1937-03-14

Black-and-white drawing of several dim houses with chimneys emitting smoke and trees and marshland around them

A Day in the Ma’sh – Untitled (p. 352)

Black-and-white image of a covered dock slanting down to the water with a house in front of it

A Day in the Ma’sh – Still Useful

Black-and-white image showing three small houses, some small boats, weeds, and trees

A Day in the Ma’sh – Low Tide

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 drawing of the exterior of a small cabin showing the porch and yard

A Day in the Ma’sh – A Trucker’s Farm Yard

Black-and-white drawing of the interior of a humble cabin

A Day in the Ma’sh – In The Old Cabin Home