Subjects Politics

Images and documents that cover the politics surrounding Philadelphia's water system and its development, including editorial cartoons, etchings, 19th Century PWD Annual Reports, and hundreds of newspaper clippings.

Thomas Meehan

Thomas Meehan, city councilman

Frankford Creek Watershed Historical Timeline

Newspaper Clipping Scrapbooks of Frederic Graff Jr.,Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia Water Department: Part 1, 1854-1857

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.

“A Decidedly Mixed Drink,” April 6, 1899

Gillette Schuylkill mud cartoon

‘Gillette, All By Himself, Gets Fine New Idea On Germ Slaying’

Black and white image of Philadelphia civic and business leaders watching the start of operations at the new Northeast Sewage Treatment Plant, April 6, 1951

Northeast Sewage Plant opening, 1951