Places Pennsylvania

This 1838 view of the Fairmount Water Works with the Schuylkill River in the distance, by John T. Bowen, “captures the pleasures of Fairmount in its heyday,” writes historian Jane Mork Gibson. “The neat beauty of the works set into a gentle landscape, steep paths and steps that offered an exhilirating contrast to the general flatness of Philadelphia, as well as the excitement of boat races on the river and refreshments offered in the former Engine House, all prompted the admiring comments of visitors.”

Fairmount Water Works and the Schuylkill River, 1838

Bird's eye color view of reservoirs, green areas of foliage, pink roads and blue water, with a dam prominent

Fairmount and vicinity, 1839

Color drawing of an elevated water reservoir on the banks of a river with green land shown on either bank

Isometrical View of Fairmount Water Works, 1843

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 the title page of a government report

Perkiomen Water Supply Surveys, 1866

Map of the County of Philadelphia from Actual Survey, 1843

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

DeLaval Beauty Shots 6

Electric Pump Installations at Lardner’s Point Pumping Station

Fairmount, bird's eye view from Lemon Hill (detail)

Fairmount Park, bird’s eye view from Lemon Hill, detail

Sewage collection and disposal plan

Plan for the Collection, Purification and Disposal of the Sewage of the City of Philadelphia, 1912

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, 1869, Schuylkill flood, 1869

Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Schuylkill Flood 1869

Tinted image of a single-arch bridge over a river with landscape in the distance

Lancaster/Schuylkill Bridge (Upper Ferry Bridge)