Subjects Infrastructure

Relative to Philadelphia's water and sewer systems, this includes pipes, pumps, plants, water works, reservoirs and other water storage facilities, and other aboveground and underground structures related to the city’s water supply, sewerage system, and drainage. In a larger sense, infrastructure includes many other human-made structures, including roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, canals, and other things of that nature.

Black-and-white image of an ornate white building on a riverbank with trees behind it

A new book, more than 40 years in the making, about an iconic Philadelphia building

Fairmount Water Works: The Surprising History of an American Landmark

The pipe beneath the rocky path

Fairmount Water Works in High Resolution

Philadelphia from Belmont, West Park (Picturesque America)

Fairmount Water Works (Picturesque America)

Wire Bridge at Fairmount

Schuylkill Navigation lock at Fairmount (Picturesque America)

Scenes on the Wissahickon

Scenes on the Wissahickon Creek (Picturesque America)

Newspaper Clipping Scrapbooks of Frederick Graff Jr., Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia Water Department. Part 2: 1858-1871

Birkinbine Schuylkill Hydrographical Survey 1861-66

Two reports on the state of the Schuylkill River, 1867

Fairmount Gardens, with the Schuylkill Bridge. This 1839 engraving, published in London, shows a view of the South Garden from the walkways that brought visitors up the cliffside to the overlooks at the height of the reservoirs. The fountain used the pressure of the reservoirs and was a a delightful refreshment in hot weather, and a wonder at all times. One anachronistic element of this engraving is the Upper Ferry Bridge, which burned the year before the print was published. Harding’s Hotel, a popular resort, is at the western end of the bridge.

Fairmount Gardens with the Schuylkill Bridge, 1839

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