Topics Water Supply

A Brief History of Water in Northwest Philadelphia

Repurposing Old Infrastructure: Water History Video 5

The 1815 Engine House (shown here in an 1819 print) housed two steam-powered pumps that drew water from the Schuylkill River and pumped it into the reservoirs above the building, on top of Faire Mount. The artist showed smoke pouring from the south chimney, indicating that the South Engine was operating. The bridge just downstream was the covered Upper Ferry Bridge, an incredible 340 feet long, also completed in 1815. Designed and constructed by Lewis Wernwag, a native of Germany who had studied engineering there, the bridge opened in 1813. Formally called the Upper Ferry Bridge, it was also known as the “Colossus of Philadelphia” because — like the mythical Colossus of Rhodes — the bridge was held up only by piers at its two ends, with no intermediate supports. Made entirely of wood, the bridge was destroyed by fire in 1838.

Fair Mount Water Works engine house, 1819

A section of wooden water pipe, long out of service, removed from a Philadelphia street in 1901. It had been installed about 1801.

Wooden Water Pipe, removed from Market Street, December 6, 1901

Bethlehem Water Works, 2011

PWD water tech at the Philly Home Show, 1960

PWD water tech at the Philly Home Show, 1960 (detail)

Gillette Schuylkill mud cartoon

‘Gillette, All By Himself, Gets Fine New Idea On Germ Slaying’

Torresdale Conduit work gang, 1906

Torresdale Conduit work gang, 12/18/1906

Cumberland Street pipeline, 1907

Bureau of Water, Cumberland, west of 13th Street, pipe line, 1907

Oak Lane Reservoir pipeline, 1904

Oak Lane Reservoir pipeline, 1904

State Street pipeline construction

State Street pipeline construction, 1904

Belmont Filters construction 1903

Belmont Filters construction, 1903