Schuylkill Water Works, 1799
The Schuylkill or Lower Engine House, located at the foot of Chestnut Street, drew water from the Schuylkill River. This building was plainer than Frederick Graff's Centre Square Engine House; that building, in the center of the city, was the centerpiece of the water supply system.
This engine pumped water into a brick conduit that ran under Chestnut Street to a second pumping station in Centre Square, at the intersection of Broad and Market streets, where City Hall stands today. There a second engine pumped the water into wooden reservoirs at the top of the building, from which it flowed into a distribution system of wooden pipes into the city, to the homes and businesses of individual subscribers to the system, or to public hydrants throughout the city, from which anyone could draw water for free.