Topics City Life

A Brief History of Water in Northwest Philadelphia

High Water: An Informal History of Flooding in Philadelphia

Dauphin and Sydenham car crash, Jan. 17, 1978

Cartoon depicting William Penn toasting the Devil with a glass of filtered water

“Speeding the Parting Guest,” Feb. 25, 1909

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

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

Bill for Privy Cleaning, 1869

Black-and-white image showing a factory, smokestacks and smoke, and streets

Dobson’s Mill, 1884, from History of Philadelphia by Scharf & Wescott

Preparation for War to Defend Commerce

Bank of Pennsylvania, South Second Street, Philadelphia

Pennsylvania Hospital in Pine Street

Goal (jail) in Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 1800