Schuylkill
River Views
From Various Collections
For
a long time I have wanted for a while to create a comprehensive overview of the
Schuylkill
River for this website, but since the completion of that large
task is nowhere in site, I hope this interim page prove useful and interesting.
Various maps of the Schuylkill River, including Fairmount Park, can
be found
at the "MAPS" link to the left. Links to other
Schuylkill-related pages can be found on the ARCHIVES index page.I have purposely
avoided, here and elsewhere, including views of the
Fairmount Water Works,
of which PWD has hundreds, dating back to the early 19th century.
Many of
those images can be found on the PWD PastPerfect Online
Catalogue.
ABOVE: Girard Avenue Bridge over Schuylkill River, looking
south, from
Appleton's Journal, 1868. (PWD)
BELOW: Industry
between the Schuylkill Canal and the Schuylkill River, in
Manayunk, Philadelphia,
Pa., ca. 1886. (PWD)
The History of Philadelphia's Watersheds and Sewers
Historical Consultant
Philadelphia Water Department
ABOVE: Wernwag Bridge over the Schuylkill River, view of South Gardens at
Fairmount Water Works, ca. 1830. (Adam Levine)
BELOW:
Wernwag Bridge over the Schuylkill River, with Farimount Water Works in background,
ca. 1830. (Adam Levine)
ABOVE: Looking north from the west bank of the Schuylkill at the site of the
new South Street Bridge, 1876. Center City is in the background, behind the masts
of the sailing ships crowding the wharfs on the riverfront. (Adam Levine).
ABOVE:
Pamphlet for the Pasteur-Chamberlain Filter Co., Dayton, Ohio, with map of Schuylkill
River showing sources of pollution, including the 80,000 corpses in Laurel Hill
Cemetery.
(College of Physicians, Flick Collection)
ABOVE:
Wash Day in Philadelphia. Cartoon commentary on the inky blackness (from coal
dust) of the Schuylkill water.
(Philadelphia Inquirer, March 13, 1899)
ABOVE:
Drawing showing construction of Schuylkill Expressway, from Nor'easter,
publication of the Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, March 1956. (Historical
Society of Frankford)
ABOVE: 1937 cartoon depicting the pollution of the the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. The City Father is shown scooping water into a cocktail shaker, which he will mix with chlorine to make "Schuylkill Punch." His customer wants no part of this concoction. (PWD)
ABOVE: Engravings and article about Fairmount Water Works and ice-cutting on Schuylkill, Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, ca. 1855. (PWD)
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Page last modified
March 28. 2011
