Topics Infrastructure

Aqueduct carrying sewer over Creishem Creek, in the Wissahickon Valley, 1892

Cresheim Aqueduct

Schuylkill River from below the South Street Bridge, 1873

Fairmount Water Works (Picturesque America)

Chestnut Street Bridge, on the Schuylkill River (Picturesque America)

Photo of four men standing on the banks of the Schuylkill River on the last day of the Schuylkill Interceptor, December 20, 1956

Last gasp of the Schuylkill Interceptor, December 20, 1956

Schuylkill River from below the South Street Bridge, 1873

Plan of Philadelphia, John Hills, May 30, 1796

Plan of Philadelphia, John Hills, 1796

Queen Lane Reservoir pumping station

Queen Lane Pumping Station, proposed design

1830 plan for the Pine Street Sewer

Plan of Pine Street Sewer, 1830

Mill Creek Sewer under construction. Several men standing beside a giant partially constructed sewer pipe.

Mill Creek Sewer under construction, 1883

Fairmount Water Works, by W. H. Bartlett, 1839. This engraving from an 1839 painting by William Bartlett shows the porch added to the Engine House about 1835 and the two gazebos built at the same time, all added to welcome visitors to the Water Works and a new saloon, or restaurant, in the Engine House. The powerful jet of water rising from the fountain in the South Garden, fed by a dedicated pipe under the full pressure of the reservoir, was depicted against the green foliage on the west slope of Faire Mount, near the east end of the Colossus. A barge is making its way downstream through the canal, headed under the Colossus to the busy port city of Philadelphia.

Fairmount Water Works, W.H. Bartlett, 1839

Bird's eye color view of reservoirs, green areas of foliage, pink roads and blue water, with a dam prominent

Fairmount and vicinity, 1839