Subjects Public Health

Includes activities to maintain the healthfulness of the city, and the animals (such as pigs) and diseases (such as cholera, yellow fever, and typhoid fever) that were the objects of public health efforts.

A list of rules governing the sanitary maintenance of privy vaults in Philadelphia in 1915

Privy Regulations

Two bottles of water from a river, one dark with pollution and one clear after filtration

Water Before and After Roxborough

Two black-and-white photographs of pipeline construction on State Road. Depicted are a group of people, trees, buildings, a fire hydrant and a grid of boards over the pipes.

State Road triple pipeline construction, 1904

Black-and-white photograph showing the completed Upper Roxborough Filter system. Vaulted concrete ceiling with beds of filter sand.

Upper Roxborough Filter Beds Complete, 1903

1902 photo of Upper Roxborough Filter beds under construction

Upper Roxborough Filter Bed Construction, 1902

Flashback Friday … the 13th!

A list of rules governing the sanitary maintenance of privy vaults in Philadelphia in 1915

Be Thankful You Don’t Live in Pre-Flush Philly