Topics City Life

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

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

Dauphin and Sydenham car crash, Jan. 17, 1978

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: The Clean Water Act, 1972-2022

International Exhibition situation plan, 1876

Centennial Exhibition situation plan, 1876

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