Topics Technology & Engineering

Black-and-white image of an ornate white building on a riverbank with trees behind it

A new book, more than 40 years in the making, about an iconic Philadelphia building

Fairmount Water Works: The Surprising History of an American Landmark

Newspaper Clipping Scrapbooks of Frederic Graff Jr.,Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia Water Department: Part 1, 1854-1857

Newspaper Clipping Scrapbooks of Frederick Graff Jr., Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia Water Department. Part 2: 1858-1871

Oak Lane Reservoir pipeline, 1904

The Water and Drainage History of Philadelphia: A seven-part course

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 photograph of a man in a hat standing in a brick trench

Grit Chamber, Essen, Germany

Black-and-white photo of heavy machinery

Sludge Presses for Grease Recovery, Bradford, England

Black-and-white image of a tray with three compartments and four small glass cylinders

Drain water from sludges obtained from sedimentation, septic and Emscher tanks

Black-and-white image of a refinery with smokestacks emitting smoke

A Day in the Ma’sh – Oil Refinery

Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1884

Baldwin Locomotive Works

Henry Disston's Keystone Saw Works was located along the Delaware riverfront in Tacony. The black-and-white lithograph shows the factory's many smokestacks emitting smoke into the atmosphere.

Keystone Saw Works