Topics Infrastructure

Birch’s Views of Philadelphia, 1800

Centre Square Water System

Centre Square Water System, Drawings of Intake Basin

Benjamin Henry Latrobe, portrait by Filippo Costaggini, 1880

Centre Square Water Works, Latrobe Plans, 1799

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

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

The Water Works in Centre Square, Philadelphia