Subjects City Life

Southeast Corner of Third and Market Streets, Philadelphia

Southeast Corner of Third and Market, Philadelphia

Benjamin Franklin was concerned for years about the health of Philadelphia, especially about the unhealthiness of the city’s wells. He left money in his will to provide a clean water supply from outside the built up part of the city. He also helped found the first fire company in Philadelphia.

Benjamin Franklin, the Fireman

Bill for Privy Cleaning, 1869

William Penn balks at drinking the "mixed drink" offered him: Schuylkill water, mixed with pollution from the upstream sources named. Editorial cartoon by Fred Morgan, Philadelphia Inquirer, April 6, 1899. One of a series of cartoons drawn by Morgan protesting the state of the city's drinking water and trying to encourage the passage of legislation authorizing the construction of a water filtration system.

Half a Century of Clean Water

Black-and-white reproduction of the title page of an old periodical

Images from “A Day in the Ma’sh” by Maurice F. Egan, Scribner’s Monthly, July 1881

Black-and-white image of two young women hugging

View from front of 322 S. 44th, April 18, 1914

Black-and-white image of a covered dock slanting down to the water with a house in front of it

A Day in the Ma’sh – Still Useful

Black-and-white image showing three small houses, some small boats, weeds, and trees

A Day in the Ma’sh – Low Tide

Black-and-white drawing of two cabins with a wooden walkway in front

A Day in the Ma’sh – At CLXIV Canal Boat St.

Black-and-white drawing of the interior of a humble cabin

A Day in the Ma’sh – In The Old Cabin Home

Black-and-white image of a man in a boat with a long pole

A Day in the Ma’sh – A Pusher

Logan Demanding Flood Relief, 8/18/38