Topics City Life

Drainage and Sewerage Report, 1853

Oak Lane Reservoir pipeline, 1904

The Water and Drainage History of Philadelphia: A seven-part course

Diagram and description of the typhoid bacteria

The Water and Drainage History of Philadelphia, Part 6

The Water and Drainage History of Philadelphia, Part 5

The Water and Drainage History of Philadelphia, Part 4

A Roman aqueduct in Segovia, Spain, 2006

The Water and Drainage History of Philadelphia, Part 3

A black-and-white image showing several figures standing on the shore, with a boat, several other figures and a building in the background

The Water and Drainage History of Philadelphia, Part 2

Black-and-white aerial photo of a creek bend with industrial buildings surrounding it

The Sad History of Frankford Creek

Image shows multicolored trees and a river cutting through them with two bridges visible

Watersheds: Learning to care for and protect our local water resources

Archival Storytelling: A snowy Super Bowl Sunday at Sydenham & Dauphin

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

Black-and-white reproduction of the title page of an old periodical

Images from “A Day in the Ma’sh” by Maurice F. Egan, Scribner’s Monthly, July 1881