Topics City Life

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

Benjamin Henry Latrobe, portrait by Filippo Costaggini, 1880

Portrait of Benjamin Henry Latrobe

Vue du Bosquet des trois Fontaines (View of the Grove of the Three Fountains), at Versailles. Painting by Jean Cotelle (the Younger, (c) Réunion des musées nationaux. Used with permission.

Vue du Bosquet des trois Fontaines, 1689-91

Southeast Corner of Third and Market Streets, Philadelphia

Southeast Corner of Third and Market, Philadelphia

Benjamin Franklin was concerned for years about the health of Philadelphia, especially about the unhealthiness of the city’s wells. He left money in his will to provide a clean water supply from outside the built up part of the city. He also helped found the first fire company in Philadelphia.

Benjamin Franklin, the Fireman

Bill for Privy Cleaning, 1869

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 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

Black-and-white image of two young women hugging

Scenes on 44th Street Photo Album, 1914-1916

Black-and-white photo of a man with a mustache and two girls in dresses and hats walking through an empty intersection.

Coming from West Philadelphia Station, April 18, 1914

Black-and-white photo of two young women standing in the street in front of a large house and many trees

Two young women at 44th and Spruce, April 18, 1914