Topics Streams & Rivers

Travel through the Philadelphia of a century ago, with a severely erudite guide

Bird's eye view of Delaware River

Bird’s eye view of Delaware River and Philadelphia, about 1840

View from the Inclined Plane, near Philadelphia, 1838

View from the Inclined Plane near Philadelphia, 1838

Fairmount

Fairmount Water Works, about 1860

Showing method of sinking the pipe on the bed of the River (2004.057.0074.006)

Showing the method of sinking the pipe on the bed of the river

Ornate black-and-white title page to the 1836 sheet music for The Fairmount Quadrilles

The Fairmount Quadrilles, 1836

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

The Day Fairmount Dam Vanished