Subjects Urban Development

Fourth of July in Centre Square, John Lewis Krimmel, ca. 1812. The wooden statue in the fountain, “Allegory of the Schuylkill River (Water Nymph and Bittern)”, was carved in 1809 by Philadelphia sculptor William Rush.

Fourth of July, Centre Square, ca. 1812

Second Bank of Pennsylvania, South Second Street, Philadelphia

A section of wooden water pipe, long out of service, removed from a Philadelphia street in 1901. It had been installed about 1801.

Wooden Water Pipe, removed from Market Street, December 6, 1901

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

This Philadelphia street scene, with dogs facing off with pigs for a pile of tasty garbage, was captured by artist Augustus Kollner in 1844, but would have been very familiar to 18th-century Philadelphians.

“Town street scavengers from life,” Kollner, 1844

Southeast Corner of Third and Market Streets, Philadelphia

Southeast Corner of Third and Market, Philadelphia

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 image of two young women hugging

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

Black-and-white image showing several cubic measurements of various types

Volume of Sludge from 1,000,000 Gallons of Sewage

Black-and-white image of a graph with several captions

Diagram Showing Rate Between Bulk of Wet Sludge and Its Percentage Moisture

Black-and-white photo of a man standing in a long trench

Sludge Drying Beds, Essen Nord, Germany

Black-and-white photograph of a man in a hat standing in a brick trench

Grit Chamber, Essen, Germany