Philadelphia's Past

A few weeks ago, I published a post about abandoned staircases and broken infrastructure found in the woods off of Brewery Hill Road. The past few weeks, I’ve found myself obsessed with revealing the unknown. Almost completely covered in vegetation, it is still apparent that some sort of structure stood at the site before our time. While searching the Free Library of Philadelphia’s database, I came across this website, enriched with various maps of Philadelphia dating back to the 19th century. Looking at these maps for countless hours, I finally discovered what I’ve been looking for. The location found in the woods was once home to the Spring Garden Waterworks. Appearing on all maps before the 1900’s, it seems as if the Spring Garden Waterworks closed once Fairmount Waterworks opened in the early 20th century.

I strongly encourage you to take the time to look at these maps. I found it very interesting, and quite thrilling, to observe how Philadelphia (including both Fairmount Park and Drexel’s campus) has changed throughout the years.