Rivers & Creeks Schuylkill River

Appletons' Journal Schuylkill, 1869

Fairmount and Schuylkill, Appletons’ Journal, 1869

Black-and-white etching of the Wire Bridge at Fairmount, 1873

Wire Bridge at Fairmount, with canal lock and esplanade (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

Pipe Aqueduct across Wissahickon Valley, 1868 (2004.057.0074.004)

Wissahickon Pipe Aqueduct, Roxborough to Mt. Airy, 1868

Queen Lane Reservoir pumping station

Queen Lane Pumping Station, proposed design

Centre Square Water Works, Frederick Graff, Sr. Plans, 1799

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

Mill Creek Sewer under construction, 1883

Fairmount Gardens, with the Schuylkill Bridge. This 1839 engraving, published in London, shows a view of the South Garden from the walkways that brought visitors up the cliffside to the overlooks at the height of the reservoirs. The fountain used the pressure of the reservoirs and was a a delightful refreshment in hot weather, and a wonder at all times. One anachronistic element of this engraving is the Upper Ferry Bridge, which burned the year before the print was published. Harding’s Hotel, a popular resort, is at the western end of the bridge.

Fairmount Gardens with the Schuylkill Bridge, 1839

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

Black-and-white image showing a factory, smokestacks and smoke, and streets

Dobson’s Mill, 1884, from History of Philadelphia by Scharf & Wescott

Color Diagram of Plan for the Collection, Purification and Disposal of the Sewage of the City of Philadelphia

Gillette Schuylkill mud cartoon

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