Places Pennsylvania

Old News: Two unusual underground rescues

Birch’s Views of Philadelphia, 1800

Colored ink drawing showing drainage areas and sewer inlets in Philaelphia in the early 19th century

Drainage area plan, early 19th century

Sometimes the backside is the best side

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

Ground Plan, Great Central Sanitary Fair, Philadelphia

Pen and ink drawing of the proposed Delaware Seventh Street Sewer

Plan and profile of proposed Delaware Seventh St. Sewer, 1850

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

Second Bank of Pennsylvania, South Second Street, Philadelphia

A section of wooden water pipe, long out of service, removed from a Philadelphia street in 1901. It had been installed about 1801.

Wooden Water Pipe, removed from Market Street, December 6, 1901

Centre Square Engine House, location of one of two steam engines used in the city’s original water system. Engraving by Birch.

Centre Square Engine House, ca. 1807

Black-and-white image of a body of water with trees and shoreline in the far distance

Delaware River at Arch Street from the New Jersey side, 1914

Preparation for War to Defend Commerce