Schuylkill River Views

From Various Collections

 

I have wanted for a while to create a comprehensive overview of the Schuylkill River, but since the completion of that large task is nowhere in site, I hope this interim page prove useful and interesting.

Maps of the Schuylkill River, including Fairmount Park, can be found at the "MAPS" section.

Links to other Schuylkill-related pages can be found on the ARCHIVES index page.

I have purposely avoided, here and elsewhere, including direct views of the Fairmount Water Works, of which PWD has hundreds, dating back to the early 19th century. Those images are for another page, some other day...

The History of Philadelphia's Watersheds and Sewers

Compiled by Adam Levine
Historical Consultant
Philadelphia Water Department
HomeCreek to sewerDown underarchivesmapsAdam LevineLinks
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RIGHT: Industry between the Schuylkill Canal and the Schuylkill River, in Manayunk, Philadelphia, Pa., ca. 1886. (PWD)

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LEFT: Girard Avenue Bridge over Schuylkill River, looking south, from Appleton's Journal, 1868. (PWD)
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LEFT: Drawing showing construction of Schuylkill Expressway, from Nor'easter, publication of the Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, March 1956. (Historical Society of Frankford)
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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)

RIGHT: From Illustrated Philadelphia, Its Wealth and Industries, an 1888 publication.
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LEFT: 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).

BELOW: 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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BELOW: 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 Pamphlet Collection)
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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)
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RIGHT: Advertisement for "Delightful Romantic Schuylkill Excursions," ca. 1828. The steamboat ride from Fairmount to Laurel Hill cast 10 cents. (PWD)

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Page last modified February 21, 2006