Topics Water Supply

Fairmount Water Works and the Lemon Hill Observatory

Fairmount Water Works (Picturesque America)

Wire Bridge at Fairmount

Schuylkill Navigation lock at Fairmount (Picturesque America)

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

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

Color drawing of an elevated water reservoir on the banks of a river with green land shown on either bank

Isometrical View of Fairmount Water Works, 1843

Gillette Schuylkill mud cartoon

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

Outhouse over Schuylkill near Pottstown

Outhouse over the Schuylkill near Pottstown

Northern Liberties and Spring Garden Water Works

Northern Liberties and Spring Garden Water Works

DeLaval Beauty Shots 6

Electric Pump Installations at Lardner’s Point Pumping Station