Items

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

Norman Lofton inspects sewer at Ditman and Sheffield, 1987

Inspector looking for problems in sewer

Sewer crawler Tom Cross, heading down the manhole at 26th and Grays Ferry, 1982

General view of sewer looking up manhole as other Water Dept. personnel look down.

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 reproduction of the title page of an old periodical

19th century life in South Philadelphia’s marshland

Black-and-white image of two young women hugging

Scenes on 44th Street Photo Album, 1914-1916

Black-and-white photo of industrial tank installation with smokestacks and factories in the background

Emscher Tank Installation at Essen Nord, Germany

Black-and-white photo of a man with a mustache and two girls in dresses and hats walking through an empty intersection.

Coming from West Philadelphia Station, April 18, 1914