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Photographic Prints
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Held at: Fairmount Park Historic Resource Archives [Contact Us]1515 Arch Street, 10th Floor, Philadelphia, PA
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Fairmount Park Historic Resource Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemics of the 1790s spurred City Councils to seek a system to provide safe drinking water to the citizens of the city. In 1801, water works were built on the original Center Square, current site of City Hall. In 1815 the Center Square water works were replaced by the Fairmount Water Works and its reservoir atop Faire Mount (the current site of the Philadelphia Museum of Art).
Throughout the early 1800s industrial pollution threatened the water quality and numerous attempts, through legislation and acquisition of riverfront properties, successfully safeguarded the water supply.
The Consolidation Act of 1854 granted the newly-enlarged Philadelphia City and County the power to acquire areas within the city as open public space.
Fairmount Park was officially founded in 1855 when the Lemon Hill estate was dedicated as a public park and renamed Fairmount Park. Support came from 2,400 citizens who signed a petition urging the purchase of Lemon Hill.
In another effort to protect Philadelphia's water supply private citizens raised funds to purchase the Sedgley Estate in 1856. The group raised $60,000 of the $125,000 purchase price. The city contributed the balance and the property was deeded to the City. This Estate was the second significant piece of land purchased and prohibited its being developed.
To escape the city's epidemics and summer heat, villas sprung up on the banks of the Schuylkill River. By the end of the 18th century the River was lined with villas, several of which can still be seen in Fairmount Park today. As extensive acreage surrounded these villas, they posed little threat to the River's water quality. City growth, the damming of the Schuylkill River, and the growth of suburban areas outside Philadelphia slowly ended the Villa Period.
Unlike New York City's Central Park with its man-made landscapes, Fairmount Park evolved through the absorption of older estates, their tree groves and open meadowland without significant alterations.
The historic houses of Fairmount Park are an important component of the Park. Many of the houses - Lemon Hill, Laurel Hill, Ormiston, Sweetbriar, Woodford, Strawberry Hill - are the original estate buildings appropriated by the Commission in the 1860s and 1870s. Others, like Cedar Grove and Letitia Street House, were moved into the Park to ensure their preservation.
Cedar Grove, an eighteenth century country house, once stood isolated in Frankford. The two-and-a-half story, gambrel-roofed house was moved to its present location in the West Park in 1926 as a gift from Lydia T. Morris, one of the founders of the Morris Arboretum.
Letitia Street House was originally built around 1715 on Letitia Street, an alley between Front and Second Streets in Old City. The house relocated to its current site in 1883.
This collection contains a multitude of images of the Fairmount Park system created between 1855 and 2012 in a variety of formats. The collection is divided into ten series by individual watershed parks, neighborhood parks, general features and activities, by the Edward and William Wharton Smith Collection, and then by formatting as either a transparency or digital file.
The “Photographic prints” collection consists of primarily of 8 x 10 prints of various park features, such as historic houses, guard boxes, landscape, construction and demolition, although sizes and content does vary widely throughout. This collection is a combination of photos which are official documents of the Fairmount Park Commission, and materials related to the park which have been accessioned as a result of their informational value. Because of the breadth of its subject matter, this series has a high value to researchers interested in many aspects of Philadelphia history.
Subject
- Bellaire Manor
- Centennial Exhibition (1876 : Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Fairmount Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)--History
- Fairmount Water Works (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Historic sites--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--Pictorial works
- Rittenhouse Square (Philadelphia, Pa.)--Maps, Pictorial
- Strawberry Mansion (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Urban parks
- Washington Square (Philadelphia, Pa.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works
Place
- Allens Lane (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Bartram Garden (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Benjamin Franklin Parkway (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Bradford Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Burholme Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Carpenter's Woods (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Carroll Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Clifford Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Cloverly Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Cobb's Creek Golf Course (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Cobb's Creek Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- East Fairmount Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Fernhill Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Fisher Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Fox Chase Farm (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Franklin Square (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Glen Foerd (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Harper's Hollow Park (Philadelphia, Pa)
- Hunting Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- I-95 Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- John Byrne Golf Course (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- John F. Kennedy Plaza (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Juniata Golf Course (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Logan Square (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Loudoun Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Manatawna Farm (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Manayunk Canal (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Marconi Plaza (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Morris Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Palmer Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Pastorius Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Penn Treaty Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Pennypack Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Poquessing Creek Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Roosevelt Boulevard (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Schuylkill River Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Stephen Girard Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Tacony Creek Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Wakefield Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Walnut Lane Golf Course (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- West Fairmount Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Wissahickon Valley Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Wister's Woods Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Fluehr Park (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Publisher
- Fairmount Park Historic Resource Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Andrew Beck and Eric Rosenzweig
- Finding Aid Date
- 10/1/2012
- Access Restrictions
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This collection is open for research. Due to the fragility of certain documents, special handling procedures may be required. All decisions regarding handling will be at the discretion of the staff archivist.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the Archives with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.
Collection Inventory
One image entitled "View of East Fairmount Park from Kelly Drive" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1993 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "U.S. Pro Championship Bicycle Race - Kelly Drive" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1999 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
Three images entitled "The Sculler" are available in the "The Fairmount Park 1985 Calendar" in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Sculling on the Schuylkill River" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1999 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image (3 copies) entitled "East Fairmount Park" can be found in the "Fairmount Park 1992 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Laurel Hill" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1999 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Laurel Hill" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, 1987 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Laurel Hill Mansion" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1993 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Mount Pleasant" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, 1987 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Waterworks" is available in "The Fairmount Park Calendar 1985" located in green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image (2 copies) entitled "The Azalea Garden" can be found in the "Fairmount Park 1992 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Philadelphia Kite Festival on Belmont Plateau, an annual event" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1993 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "The Horticulture Center Arboretum" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1993 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Japanese House, West Fairmount Park" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1993 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image depicting the Japanese House in autumn can be found in the file for the"1988 Twelve Month Illustrated Calendar of Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2. This is a separate print which was excluded from the calendar.
One image entitled "Japanese House and Garden" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1999 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Mann Center for the Performing Arts" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1999 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image (3 copies) entitled "The Falls of Schuylkill Bridge" can be found in the "Fairmount Park 1992 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
All images from series shot by Dick Gouldy available on CD-ROM, with select images photographically printed. Photographer descriptions and numbering system available in file.
One image entitled "Fox Chase Farm" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1999 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image (3 copies) entitled "Bell's Mill Crossing on the Wissahickon" can be found in the "Fairmount Park 1992 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Harper's Meadow" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, 1987 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Magarge Dam" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, 1987 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image (3 copies) entitled "The David Rittenhouse Birthplace along the Monoshone" can be found in the "Fairmount Park 1992 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Thomas Mill" is located in "The Fairmount Park Calendar 1985" in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Covered Bridge in the Andorra Natural Area" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1993 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Aqueduct" can be found in the "1988 Twelve Month Illustrated Calendar of Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image (3 copies) entitled "The Wissahickon Creek at Leverington Avenue" can be found in the "Fairmount Park 1992 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Wissahickon Creek" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1999 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Wissahickon Drive" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, 1987 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
Two images (6 copies) entitled "Fireworks on the Parkway" and "West Terrace of the Museum of Art" can be found in the "Fairmount Park 1992 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
Two images entitled "Philadelphia Museum of Art, Benjamin Franklin Parkway" and "Philadelphia Museum of Art" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1993 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Ryerss Mansion" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1999 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Olmstead Pavilion" is available in "The Fairmount Park Calendar 1985" located in green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Pavilion at Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park on League Island" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1993 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Glen Foerd on the Delaware River" can be found in the "Fairmount Park, Friends of Philadelphia Parks 1993 Calendar" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image [4 copies] entitled "The Skyline from West Parl" of the city skyline at night is available in the "Fairmount Park 1992 Calendar", located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image entitled "Washington Square" can be found in the "1988 Twelve Month Illustrated Calendar of Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania" located in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.
One image is located in "The Fairmount Park Calendar 1985" in the green shelving unit, drawer no. 2.