Items

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

Joe Cerrone, Inspector, Industrial Waste Unit, PWD, enters storm drain to search for source of oil spill, 1989

Sewer worker Anthony Holston enters sewer, 1990

Black and white photo of a worker with darker skin, wearing protective clothing, gloves, and a hard hat with the number 25 on the front, reaching up out of a sewer manhole, only head, shoulders, and left arm visible.

Manholes like this give access to city’s sewer system, 1961

Black and white photo of a worker with darker skin, wearing protective clothing, gloves, and a hard hat with the number 25 on the front, reaching up out of a sewer manhole, only head, shoulders, and left arm visible.

Sewer Inspections: Vintage Images

Black-and-white image of a brick sewer outlet that drains into a creek with trees and a hill behind it

Thomas Run sewer outlet at Cobbs Creek

Black-and-white image showing a man standing in a large concrete half-pipe

Thomas Run sewer outlet during construction

Philadelphia Underground, Jan. 29, 1961

“Philadelphia Underground,” Jan. 29, 1961

Sewer Crawlers, Jan. 29, 1961

“Sewer Crawlers,” January 29, 1961

1779 Philadelphia map

1779 Revolutionary War-era map of Philadelphia and environs

Journey of your Flush map

The Journey of Your Flush

Color Diagram of Plan for the Collection, Purification and Disposal of the Sewage of the City of Philadelphia

Captain Sewer and Michael Nutter, 1998

Captain Sewer and Michael Nutter, 1998