5 results
Fairmount
This landscape view looking west from Reservoir Hill in Philadelphia shows the Fairmount Water Works, originally constructed between 1812 and 1822 after the designs of Philadelphia chief engineer Frederick Graff. Built to supply the expanding city with safe drinking water, the works included an engine house, mill house, and a millrace bridge. Visitors are seen strolling on the landscaped grounds of the works and rowers are visible on the nearby Schuylkill River. Also depicted are residences, probably including Lemon Hill, the Schuylkill Canal lock, and the river dam. The illustration ...
Contributed by
The Library Company of Philadelphia
View from the Inclined Plane, near Philadelphia
This circa 1840 print shows the view looking east down the inclined plane cut into Belmont Hill (Fairmount Park) for hauling railroad cars from the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia to Columbia on the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. Two men watch the cars being hauled by cables from within the plane. The covered Columbia Railroad Bridge over the Schuylkill, completed in 1834, is visible in the background. In the foreground is a heavily wooded landscape, with the cityscape in the distance. The plane connecting the river with the rail line was ...
Contributed by
The Library Company of Philadelphia
Alms House. Philadelphia
This 1840s print shows the Blockley Alms House in Philadelphia, as seen from the east bank of the Schuylkill River. It includes the Market Street Bridge, Beck’s shot tower (a city landmark since 1808) and, in the far distance, the Eastern State Penitentiary. William Strickland (1788–1854), a founder of Greek Revival architecture in the United States, designed the quadrangle of four large buildings that formed the almshouse. The original Philadelphia Alms House was constructed in the early 1730s and was the first multifunctional government-sponsored institution for the care ...
Contributed by
The Library Company of Philadelphia
Manayunk near Philadelphia
This lithograph shows the textile village of Manayunk along the east bank of the Schuylkill River, northwest of Philadelphia. The townscape includes Joseph Ripka's cotton mills, which were erected in 1831 and 1835 and were part of one of the largest textile businesses in the United States at the time. In the background is Flat Rock Turnpike Bridge, a long covered bridge that stood from 1810 to 1850. Manayunk’s plentiful water supply and good transport links made it important in the nation’s industrial revolution. The village was ...
Contributed by
The Library Company of Philadelphia
A Plan of the City and Environs of Philadelphia, 1777
This map of Philadelphia was published in London in 1777 by William Faden, successor to Thomas Jefferys as royal geographer to King George III. It is based on a 1752 map prepared by Nicholas Scull (circa 1687–1762) and George Heap (flourished 1715–60), updated with new details. An important addition to the 1777 map is the shading to indicate the expansion of the city from the waterfront along the Delaware River. One of the largest and most prosperous cities in mid-18th century British North America, Philadelphia was laid out ...
Contributed by
Library of Congress