Sewer Records City Archives of Philadelphia

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA ARCHIVES

An catalogue of sewer records
Compiled by
Adam Levine
for the Philadelphia Water Department/Public Education Division
1998

Address:
City of Philadelphia Archives
3101 Market Street
Piladelphia, PA 19104
215-685-9401/9402
http://www.phila.gov/phils/carchive.htm
City Archives has a good online catalogue, easily searchable in a number of ways.

NOTE
Since 1998 I have found additional sewer-related records at City Archives that are not not recorded here. If time allows, I will try to update not only this inventory, but the 12 others I did under the same PWD contract covering other city government departments, as well as private research libraries in the city.

Hightlighted links will access either more detailed catalogue information, or actual documents or images.

BUREAU OF SURVEYS: RECORD GROUP 90

1. Exhibit of Sewers, 1867-1885, 1 vol., no index
��Record Group 90.18
��Handwritten ledger book complied by the Dept. of Engineering and Surveys listing all sewer projects built with public money in the city, including length, cost and contractor. Each year includes a recapitulation with total length, in feet, and dollars spent. 1885 is incomplete.

2. Photographs, Blueprints of Sewer Projects, 1917-32
��Record Group 90.19, Box A-3005
��Hundreds of original official City photographs of sewer projects. Most of the photographs are of surrounding buildings before work began, documentation done to protect the City from lawsuits. Most of the photographs in the box have not been catalogued by the City Archives. [NOTE: As of March 2003, these photographs, in the same box, were shelved with the uncatalogued Public Works photographs. See No. 9 below.]
��Subjects are as follows:
��--40th ward intercepting sewer, 6 photos, 1924-25
��--40th ward drainage channels, over 100 photos, 1923-28
��--Sewage disposal project/Upper Frankford Creek collecting sewer/lower level, ca. 50 photos, 1929
��--Lower Frankford Creek collector sewer, ca. 100 photos, 1931-32
��--Sewer/Main gravity/Intercepting sewer/Penrose Ave, to Mingo Creek, 13 photos, 1931
��--80th Street sewer, ca. 35 photos, 1925-26
��--43rd Street sewer, ca. 50 photos, 1932 [documenting area around 43rd Street after Mill Creek Sewer collapsed]
��--Model Farm, Kingsley Estate, ca. 50 photos with map, 1917

3. Files of the Bureau of Surveys: 1901-1951
��Record Group 90.23
��A rich collection of information, crammed into files just as it must have been in the office from which it was rescued. Perusing these files reveals the full range of the work of the Bureau of Surveys. Items found in these files are noted below, with the box number, and file numbers or names. My subject headings are in brackets [ ] at the top of each listing.

Record Group 90.23, Box A3128 "Sewers" file contains, in part:
3-1. [Mill Creek Sewer collapse and demolition of homes]
��--"List of Sewer Pictures" of sewer collapses used at meeting about Mill Creek Sewer on August 2, 1945 (probably to convince owners of condemned houses that the safest best would be to let the demolition proceed). Each listing has a negative number and description. Lee Stanley at City Archives said that none of the negative nos. were on the Archives list of surviving photos. This list has been xeroxed for PWD Archives and is in a file titled Mill Creek.
��--3 copies of magazine photo of Mill Creek Sewer under construction
��--"Sewer construction required for flood relief" 6 p. document that includes this mention of the Mill Creek Sewer: "A Sewer failure would probably be a tragedy." (See copy of P. 1 in "Mill Creek" file) [Of course, Mill Creek Sewer did fail tragically, in 1961, with four people killed.]
��--Mill Creek Sewer: handwritten list of properties to be demolished
��--Two newspaper clippings:
��--8/2/45, Bulletin: "Homes over sewer called in peril"
��--8/21/45, Bulletin?: "Families ask aid in sewer eviction"

3-2. [Other Newspaper clippings, partial list:]
��--8/7/45, Record: "Dauphin Street caves in twice in 5 weeks"
��--7/3/46, Record: "City hides 2 sewer cave-ins behind fences..." 600 block of W. Clearfield, at Fairhill.
��--5/27/48, source?, xeroxed: "Sewer built under Juniper but city keeps street open" (with photo of Baxter, Mayor, workers et al.)
��--3/15/45, Bulletin: "City sewer rent suit dismissed..."
��--4/18/44, Inquirer, xeroxed, ad from Phila. Real Estate Board vs. sewer rental ordinance.
��--4/27/43, source?: two articles: "City will appeal to WPB to ok Burholme sewer" and "City acts to save Burholme homes"
��--12/15/43, source?: editorial, "Sewer Planning"
��--6/18/43, Inquirer: "Council orders plans for Burholme sewers"
��--4/28/43, source?: "Burholme sewer out for present"
�� " " " , Record: "WPB will ok sanitary project but storm pipe must wait a while"
�� " " " , Inquirer: "Phila. sewer plan rejected in part..."

3-3. [Sewer construction, political influence]
��--"Reconstruct Old Sewers"--list by councilmanic district of the cost and location and ordinances approving work. typescript, no date, ca. 1941
��--"Sewers to be built in Councilman Crossan's District" dated May 19, 1944. Location and cost, relating to Northeast Philadelphia.

3-4. [Graphic material]
��--five city photographs of various dates
��--basic sewer design drawings

Material from other files in Record Group 90.23:
��3-5. American Society for Municipal Improvements Bulletin, V. 2, No. 1, July 1929. Invitation to 35th annual convention of the ASMI, Philadelphia Oct. 14-18, 1929.
��90.23 Box A3128, "Exhibits" file
��Includes great information on the city, including long sections on the sewer system and sewage treatment.

3-6. [Sewage Disposal, Phila.; Water Supply, Phila.]
��"A Regional Plan for the Philadelphia Metropolitan District; Being the report of a preliminary survey made under the direction of a citizens committee and published by order of the committee." Phila., Nov. 15, 1924.
��Record Group 90.23, Box A3127, File 161

3-7. [Northeast Sewage Treatment Plant; Samuel S. Baxter]
��"The Northeast Sewage Treatment Works of Philadelphia" by Samuel S. Baxter, Assistant Chief Engineer and M.B. Tark, Associate Engineer of Design, Bureau of Engineering, Surveys & Zoning, Phila. January 20, 1948.
��90.23, Box A3128, "Sewage Disposal" file
��16-page typescript; appears to be a paper that was presented or published, but no indication of where.

��3-8. "A Short History of the Bureau of Surveys of the Department of Public Works, Phila." by B.A. Haldeman, General Plans Division, Bureau of Surveys, 1908.
��90.23, Box A3126, File 14A, 2 copies.

90.23, Box A3127, File 148 "Housing" contains:
��3-9. Ninth National Conference on Housing in America. Philadelphia, December 5, 6, 7 1923. Programme and press release;
��3-10. [Newspaper articles]
��--June 22, 1918 Public Ledger: "Insanitary housing in city arraigned. [problem of dead-end streets where sewer connections impossible]
��--June 6, 1918 (source??): "Our shameful legacy" [letter re: privy vaults]
��--March 16, 1918 (source??): "Insanitary houses dwellings of the poor."
��--August 10, 1917 (source??): letter re: "Negro housing"
��--June 30, 1917 (source??); "Filthy dens border Rittenhouse Square"

��Philadelphia Housing Association Pamphlets in 90.23, Box A3126, files 135 and 135E. [PHA later became the Housing Association of the Delaware Valley, Temple University Libraries Urban Archives has the bulk of the former PHA/HADV library, including hundreds of photographs.]
��3-11. Housing in Philadelphia. Bernard Newman, 48 pp., 1929, File 135E.
��3-12. Know Your City: The Anti-Social Consequences of Bad Housing 8 pp. 4th Ed., BU27-4, Nov. 1927. File 135.
��3-13. Know Your City: Why Social Service Agencies Should Cooperate to Abate Insanitary Housing. 6pp., foldout with photos, BU27-5, (1927?), File 135.
��3-13a. Suggested Housing Standards for Families of Small Incomes by Emily Wayland Dinwiddie. 8 pp., BU28-2, (1928?). Reprinted from Journal of Home Economics, V. 19 No. 8, Aug. 1927. File 135

��3-14. [Water Supply, Phila.]
��"Philadelphia's Water Supply: Facilities and Plans for Future Developments." By Carleton E. Davis, former chief, Bureau of Water, Phila. from "Engineers & Engineering," V. XL, No. 10, Oct. 1923. (Address before the ASCE (Phila Section), May 7, 1923. Text includes discussion with W.L. Stevenson, John C. Trautwine, others.
��90.23, Box A-3127, File 151

��3-15. "The Better Philadelphia Exhibition: What City Planning Means to You" Sept. 8 to Oct. 15, 1947 at Gimbels Store.
��90.23, Box A3127, Folder 2 "City Planning"
��[The exhibit's centerpiece was a 3-D model of downtown.]

��3-16. Program booklet from 56th Annual Convention of the American Society of Civil Engineers, held in Philadelphia October 4-9, 1926. 24 pp.
��90.23, Box A3126, File 89 "Personnel"

��3-17. [City Planning, Phila.]
��"Extracts from Acts of Assembly and Ordinances relating to City Planning." 3 pages, typed. 90.23 Box A3126, File 14A

��3-18. [City Planning; Depression]
��"Urgent problems in city development showing how they are modified by current economic indicators." by Thomas Buckley, Assistant Chief, Bureau of Engineering and Surveys, Philadelphia. In "Civil Engineering," July 1935, V. 5, No. 7, pp. 420-24
��90.23, Box A3126, File 135A (3 copies)

4. Third Survey District--Regulations of Ascents and Descents
��Book No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.
��1815-Ca. 1845
��Fascinating plans of the original city area. The link to the more detailed catalogue of these books includes further links to a few of the actual surveys.

��
ITEMS FROM OTHER RECORD GROUPS

5. Water Department
Deputy Commissioner for Sewage Operations, Files, 1953-63
Record Group 91.33, Box A-5286
��Most of the files deal with the redesign of the Northeast Sewage Treatment Plant, and might be of interest to an engineer. But the final three files are full of correspondence, reports and plans for ocean dumping of sludge, and are a good record of the beginnings of that disposal method.

��5-1. "What the Delaware River Means to Philadelphia," by Samuel S. Baxter, 10-page typescript of talk by Baxter, given at forum on "Water Conservation of the Delaware River Basin" at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila., Dec. 4, 1957
��91.33, last file in box, "1957-63--Delaware River Survey--Greeley & Hansen"

6. Mayor's Office
Record Group 60-5.2
��6-1. "Underground Philadelphia, No. 1, Main and Branch Sewers" in "Philadelphia," published by the City Government, Bureau of Contracts and Statistics, Vol. IV, No. 6, June 1911.
��Article covers 12 pages in this large-format magazine, with many photographs, including several of Mill Creek Sewer showing the surrounding landscape during construction.
��6-2. "Underground Philadelphia, No. 2," on water supply, in "Philadelphia," published by the City Government, Bureau of Contracts and Statistics, Vol. V, No. 1, July 1911.
��Article with many photographs.

7. District of Spring Garden, Culvert accounts, 3 vols.
��Record Group 222.18
��7-1. Sept. 1837 to June 1851:
��Lists all culverts built with cost and an alphabetical index in front by street. Also includes list of property owners assessed for the construction costs, and when they paid.
��7-2. Sept. 1837 to August 1854
��Includes all information in volume 1, with pen-and-ink plans of the culvert routes that include adjoining properties and assessments. Some plans have culverts and inlets drawn in. Click here to view a plan from 1845, showing Ridge Avenue between 16th St. and 17th St..
��7-3. Another duplicate of Vol. 1, in rougher form.

8. District of Spring Garden. Minutes of the culvert committee, 1844-1854
��Record Group 222.2
��Includes information on bids, petitions, etc. ��Companion volume to the culvert accounts noted above, and with them comprises an invaluable record of culvert construction in this area of the city.

9. Public Works photographs, 3 boxes
��Not yet catalogued
��[I have since located and copied many more uncatalogued photographs than those listed below.
�� --Adam Levine, March 2003]
9-1. Box labeled "Public Works, 1904, Sewer Projects":

��Wingohocking sewer:��--October 14, 1916, Negative No. 12890, general view, showing landscape around the construction; --August 11, 1916, No. 12563, general view from bridge.
��Montgomery Avenue sewer: --June 11, 1904, Nos. 1734-1735, showing work crew and houses around the site; --August 30, 1904, No. 1766-96, 1799-1800, 1818-1818, showing houses along the sewer route on the 1300, 1400 and 1500 blocks of N. 7th Street
��12th Street reconstruction: --Sept. 19, 1922, No. 19613-14, showing n. from Thompson and n. from 1308 N. 12th.
��Tacony Creek area: --August 3, 1922, Nos. 19244-49, showing greenhouses, houses, schoolhouse
��11th Street sewer: --Nov. 21, 1900(?), No. 724

9-2. Box labeled "Public Works--Rock Run Sewer"
��Great documentation of how a creek is converted into a sewer. Photos clearly show the depth of the valley, the work details with men and their tools and machinery, how the creek was diverted to allow construction. A fascinating collection.
��--April to Nov., 1922, Nos. 18840-42, 18852-53, 19036-41, 19085-87, 19222-25, 19261-71, 19796-98.

9-3. Box labeled "Public Works--Sewer Projects--ca. 1900"
Most of these do not include negative numbers; those that do are in the 600s. Two great series, full of construction details, are of the:
��Aramingo Sewer, 21 photos
��Wissahickon High Level, 10 photos
Others in the box show the:
��Swanson Street main relief sewer, 11 photos
��Courtland Street sewer, 2 photos
��New 11th Street sewer, above Norris Street, 4 photos

10. Privy Well Measurer's Book, May 1, 1852 to Jan. 26, 1854
Board of Health Record Group 37.23
��Fantastically detailed record of what must have been, to say the least, a "dirty" job: the cleaning of privy wells, for which work a Board of Health permit was required. Ledger includes permit no., date, name of cleaners, locality of wells, offset (perhaps meaning the distance from the top of the well down to the top of the contents of the privy well), whole measurement (length and diameter of the well), cubic feet of contents removed, and, in early listings, "condition of filth removed," later changed to "condition of well."

11. Papers 1801-1854
Board of Health Record Group 37.2
��These files include "nuisance" complaint letters from residents, including complaints about foul privy wells. (Several examples xeroxed and included in "Privies" file.)

12. Nuisance Bill Book 1867-70
Board of Health Record Group 76.34
��Examined briefly. Includes description of work done, by whom and cost. One example:
��July 14, 1869
��C.T. Jones, Agt.
��Removing 3 loads of privy filth from wells attached to premises on Old York Rd. south of Reading R.R.
��$15, Permits $4, $19 [total]
��Ind. Myers, Cleaner.

13-1 to 13-5. Board of Health Scrapbooks 5 vols.
(Newspaper clippings, 1891-1900)
Record Group 76.38, Box A3823

14-1 to 14-2. Board of Health Scrapbooks 2 vols.
(Newspaper clippings, 1903-1908)
Record Group 81.6

Most of these books are very fragile, with clippings crumbling or split. The archivists wouldn't allow them to be xeroxed. The selective list of clippings--relating to sewers, water pollution and anything else that caught my fancy--was compiled to allow a search of newspaper microfilms at the Philadelphia Free Library. However, when I tried to find a few of these articles on microfilm, I found it very tedious and time consuming and, in several cases, could not find the article I had seen in the scrapbook. My recommendation is that anyone interested in any of these articles should go into the scrapbooks. Taking notes with a laptop computer would be less time-consuming, I think, than doing a microfilm search.
��The page numbers refers to scrapbook pages.

13-1. Board of Health Scrapbook
March 5, 1891 to June 1893 (most from March-June 1893)
Record Group 76.38/Box A-3823

April 3, 1893
Item, p. 41, editorial: Purify the Water

April 7, 1893
Press: Preparations against Cholera (drinking water & sewage)

April 9, 12, 16, 17 & 18, 1893
Record, editorials: "The Breeding Ground for Cholera" (p. 49); "The Approach of Cholera"; "Filter the Water" (p. 65); "The Prevention of Pollution of Our Water Supply" (p. 55); "Shall We Have Cholera?" (p. 67)

April 13, 1893
Public Ledger, p. 61: "For the City's Health: Important Action Taken by the Citizens Committee of Fifty--The Schuylkill a Public Sewer...Gigantic Task"

April 24, 1893��
Times, p. 83: "Prayer and the Cholera...Dr. McConnell Will Not Pray Against the Scourge..."

April 29, 1893
Ledger, p. 89: "Ministers Aiding...Efforts to Secure Better Sanitary Conditions... The Pulpit to be Enlisted"

April 29, 1893
Press, same as above

May 11, 1893
Press, p. 109, editorial about water: "The City's Health"

May 14, 1893
Times, p. 111, editorial: "Protecting the Water Supply"

May 18, 1893
Telegraph, p. 124, editorial: "For Clean Water"

May 20, 1893
Telegraph, editorial: "Let Everybody Clean Up"

June 1, 1893
Press, editorial re: water supply: "Cholera's Reappearance"

June 2, 1893
Ledger: "Our Water Supply...It's Relation to Public Health"

13-2. Board of Health Scrapbook
Nov. 7, 1896 to Jan. 22, 1897
Record Group 76.38/Box A-3823

Nov. 8, 1896
Inquirer: "A Filthy Alley Causes Indignation"

Nov. 10, 1896
Inquirer, editorial re: ink-colored Schuylkill water: "Did You Wash Yesterday?"
Times, editorial: "An Exhibition of Water Colors"
Press, editorial: (concludes that coal dust is black, but germs are invisible)
Press: "Dirtier than Ever"
Record, same topic
Item, same topic

Nov. 11 & 12, 1896
North American, editorial: "All Kinds of Water"; and another story

Nov. 14, 1896
Press, editorial: "Culm Water and Filtration"

Nov. 15, 1896
Times, p. 11: "Purified Sewage," letter
Filtration Jobbers Tricks," editorial

Nov. 17, 1896
Telegraph: "Looking for Cleaner Water...Filtration Schemes"

Nov. 18, 1896
Ledger: "The Committee on Water..." editorial re: filtration
"Water from the Delaware"

The following are articles or editorials re: filtration
Nov. 19, 1896: Inquirer & North American
Nov. 20, 1896: Inquirer, North American, Telegraph, Record
Nov. 21, 1896: Ledger
Nov. 22, 1896: Inquirer, Dispatch

Nov. 28, 1896
Times, p. 44: "Water from the Delaware"

Nov. 1896: Many stories about spitting as a source of contagion.

Dec. 13, 1896
Times. p. 90: "Plague of Dirt and Dust--The Agonies of Life on the Streets of Philadelphia (about dirt and dust in the city)

Dec. 22, 1896
Telegraph: River Pollution (re: City's suit vs. six polluting collieries upstream from Philadelphia on the Schuylkill)

Dec. 26, 1896
NY Herald: (Sewer gas spreads disease and should be burned)

Dec. 31, 1896
North American, editorial: Our Filthy Streets
(followed by other articles in other papers, from Jan. 1-7, 1897)

Jan. 18, 1897
Record: Sand Filtered Sewage (re: Reading, Pa.)

13-3. Board of Health Scrapbook
Jan. 2, 1897 to May 2, 1897
Record Group 76.38/Box A-3823

January 22, 1897
Call, p. 4: "Analysis of the Water" (improper aeration caused odor; filtration would have prevented it)

Jan. 23, 1897
Press, same topic as above: "West Philadelphia Water"

Jan. 24 (?), 1897
Inquirer: "Water for Sale" (Enterprising boys in W. Phila. selling spring water door to door for a nickel a gallon--Councilman at a luncheon mistakes Schuylkill water for lemonade)

Feb. 3, 1897
News, p. 25: "Cats Spread Diphtheria!" (in West Phila.)
(Indianapolis newspaper, p. 27:) "The Cat Coughed"

Feb. 22, 1897
Press: "Elimination of Cats"

Feb. 23, 1897
Press: "Diphtheretic Cat `Scare'" (story debunked)

March 5, 1897
Telegraph, small item, p. 42: "Disease Breeding Water" (resolution in favor of filtration by Board of Managers, Germantown Dispensary and Hospital)

March 12, 1897
Call: "Close Watch on Drainage"
(Other papers on other dates)
Annual report for 1896 of House Drainage Division, Bureau of health. Good quotes from Chief Hughes about sources of pollution, he especially singles out "Italians." Entire report, for this year and others, should be included in Board of Health annual reports.
��Also useful would be to look at "nuisance" lists compiled by "Chief Nuisance Inspector," also in Board of Health annual reports

March 20, 1897
Record, p. 69: "Municipal Water Supplies" (Prof. W.P. Mason of R.P.I, lectures at Franklin Institute, recommends filtration, gives "cost" of typhoid deaths)

April 2, 1897
(paper?), editorial: "Guarding Against Disease"

April 5, 1897
Inquirer, p. 107: "An Offensive Alley" (near Cumberland & Huntingdon, Howard and Waterloo) "We want sewers"...3 foot alley is a drain...stench...

April 23, 1897
Call (and other papers): "Seeds Has a Project"
(recommends use of Wissahickon Creek water)

13-4. Board of Health Scrapbook
May 3, 1897 to Aug. 15, 1897
Record Group 76.38/Box A-3823

May 4-5
Telegraph, North American, Ledger, Press, Record, Inquirer, Times
(Stories about Women's Health Convention)
��See especially May 5, North American: "Health in Cities" re: lectures by Col. Waring of NYC, Rudolf Hering on Sewerage Systems, Trautwine, Allen Hazen, etc.

May 1897: Many articles re: "War Against Spitting"

May 25, 1897
Telegraph: "Death Lurks in Gunner's Run" (overflows causing "stench") and other Board of Health news

May 26, 1897: same story, Ledger and other papers

May 27, 1897
Times, p. 28, editorial: "Tannery Pollution of Streams"

June 1,3,4 & 5
various papers, various articles
American Medical Association Convention in Philadelphia
June 16, 1897
Record: "Sand Filters Explained...An exhaustive explanation illustrated by stereopticon views...by Prof. Erastus F. Smith"
Press: "Filtration's Merits Urged"

July 4, 1987
Item: "These, Our Lepers" (profile of the City's two lepers)

July 26, Bulletin and others: obituary for Chinese leper

July 27, 1897
Times: "Street Markets Menace Health" (re: Fourth Street markets)

Aug. 14, 1897
Inq., Times: (Re: filthy pool at 65th and Buist, caused by grading of Buist)

Aug. 16, 1897
Item: "The Neck Floods--Danger from Stagnant Water" (broken sluice) (comments of Concilman Penrose A. McClain re: problem and solution and benefits)

Aug. 15, 1897
Record: (Bath house proposed for corner Gaskill and Berlin)

13-5. Board of Health Scrapbook
July 25, 1899 to January 1900
Record Group 76.38/Box A-3823

July 29, 1899 ��
Press: "Victory for Pure Water--Supply Streams of the State's Rivers Must Not Be Used as Sewers"
North American, same as above
Inquirer, same as above

Aug. 18, 1899
Inquirer, p. 57: "Menace to Health--Foul Open Sewer on Tenth Street..."

Aug. 24, 1899��
North American, same as above

Stories re: water filters for public schools; funding withdrawn...
Sept. 23, 1899: Telegraph
Oct. 11, 1899: Inquirer & North American
Oct. 10, 1899: Press

Oct. 3, 1899��
Inquirer, p. 85: Women's Sanitary League First Anniversary

Nov. 2-3-4 & 15-16, 1899
North American, p. 110, 111, 112, 116, 118
"`Cover the Sewer' Frankford Cries--Little Tacony Creek in its present condition is a nursery for Fever..." (Nov. 2)
"How Tacony Creek May Be Cleaned" (Nov. 3)
"Physicians Denounce Tacony Creek" (Nov. 4)
"Frankford's New Drainage Plans Seem Assured" (Nov. 15)
"Frankford Folk to Keep on Worrying...until Better Drainage is Provided..." (Nov. 16)
Nov. 10, 1899
Item, p. 116: "Little Tacony Creek--No Money for Its Drainage"

Nov. 28, 1899
Telegraph, p. 126: "Health Points from England..." (William Harvey Allen, Wharton Student, reports on trip to view sanitary facilities in England)

Jan, 4, 1900
Public Ledger: (300 cesspools empty into Schuylkill; but not true, according to Board of Health; what empties is surface drainage, not sewage...)

14-1. Board of Health Scrapbook
Nov. 1903 to Sept. 23, 1904
Record Group 81.6

This volume is in very poor condition, with many clippings chipped and crumbling and pages cracked and falling out.
An interesting feature is the many articles about typhoid fever, which was epidemic in the beginning of 1904. They give a clear view of the public fear (if somewhat hyped by the press) of this disease.
NOTE: On microfilm, might be easiest to track North American and Telegraph re: this typhoid epidemic. One article also mentioned a 1902 epidemic; scrapbooks for that year are missing.

Jan. 9, 1904
North American: "Typhoid Will Prevail Despite Filtration"
��NOTE: The North American was against filtration, as they thought the construction of filters was just another source of jobs for the cronies of those in political power.

Jan. 27, 1904
North American: "Disease-Laden Fluid Fills Water Pipes" (black water)

Feb. 4, 1904
North American: "Says Typhoid Germs Soon Die in Water"

March 3, 1904
North American: "West Philadelphia's Water Supply Still Adds to the Death List"

March 1, 1904
Telegraph: "Typhoid Outbreak Alarms Officials"

March 2, 1904
Inquirer, editorial: "Don't Risk Typhoid Fever"

March 2, 1904
Press: "44 New Typhoid Cases in a Day"

March 3, 5, 12, 1904
North American: "Typhoid..."

March 16, 1904
Inquirer: "Will Disinfect All Pesthouse Sewage"
(treatment of Municipal hospital sewage planned)

March 19, 25, 1904
Telegraph: "No Abatement in Typhoid Epidemic"
"Typhoid Still Bad"

March 30, 1904
Bulletin, small item: "Typhoid Fever's Spread"

April 2, 1904
Press: "Greater Need for Boiling Water"
Inquirer: "Record Week for Typhoid Fever"
North American: "Typhoid Makes Big Increase...Bad Water and Defective Drainage Only Causes Known."

April 6, 1904
North American: "Typhoid Germs in Schuylkill Water Make New Record"

April 8, 1904
various papers: Typhoid

April 9, 1904
Telegraph: "Typhoid Beats All Records"
North American: "Typhoid..."

April 12, 1904
Telegraph: "Typhoid defies the Use of Chemicals" (good quote from A.C. Abbott, Chief, Bureau of Health)

April 13, 1904
Inquirer: "Sterilization of Sewage Asked For" (by Trades League)
Ledger: "Typhoid War Urged by Trades League"

April 16, 1904
Ledger, North American, Telegraph: Typhoid...

April 18, 1904
Press: Typhoid...

April 22, 27, 28, 1904
Telegraph, North American: Typhoid

May 2, 3, 1904
North American: "Germs in the Filter Sand May Be Cause of Typhoid's Spread"

May (3?), 1904
Inquirer: (Quoting officials denying this accusation)

May 6, 1904
Inquirer, Press: (statement of Health Chief Abbott re: typhoid and filtration)

May 13, 14, 1904
Various typhoid articles

May 20, 1904
(typhoid [and press coverage] "abating")

May 28, 1904
Press: "Working Together for Pure Water" (electrozone not practical)

May 31, 1904
North American: "Open Sewer a Peril in 34th Ward [64th and Vine]...Dairy Cattle Drink It"

June 11, 1904
Inquirer: "Liquid Water is Held Up By Sand" (W. Phila. and filtered water)

June 21, 1904
North American: "Typhoid Charged to Brewery Drainage"

June 20, 1904
Telegraph: "Foul Odors assail..." (re: private sewers under houses)

July 1, 1904
Inquirer: "Filtered Water Lessens Typhoid"
North American: "Filters Have Checked Typhoid..."
Press: "Filtered Water Reduces Typhoid..."

July 18, 1904
Inquirer: "Filtered Water Reduces Typhoid"

July 18, 1904
Ledger: "Sewers to Prevent Typhoid"
(early discussion of sewage treatment)

Aug. 16, 1904
Press: "Filtered Water Checks Typhoid"

Aug. 23, 1904
North American: "Copper Vessels Kill Typhoid Germ in Four Hours..."
Press, same topic (also Aug. 24)

Aug. 24, 1904
Bulletin (note): (Typhoid contracted from drinking well water in W. Phila.)
Press, editorial: (Re: copper vessels and typhoid)

Aug. 25, 1904
Ledger, editorial: (re: copper vessels and typhoid)

Aug. 27, 1904
North American: "Copper Sulfate in Water" (as germ removal agent)
North American: "Typhoid Menaces 340,000 Persons as Consequence of Blocked [Sumac Street] Sewer..." (also mentions stories "Saturday and yesterday..."; includes good sensationalistic drawing

Aug. 31, 1904
North American: (re: Sumac Street sewer,

Aug. 30, 1904
Press, same topic

Sept. 4, 1904
Press: "Drift of Sewage Tested By Jars"
(about how sewage drift from outlets into rivers is checked)

Sept. 5, 6, 1904
Ledger: "Typhoid Germs Yield to Copper Treatment"
(good stories with good information)

Sept. 7, 8, 1904
various papers, stories on copper treatment of water...

Sept. 9, 1904
Record, editorial: "Mixed Drinks in West Philadelphia" (re: controversy over mixing of filtered and unfiltered water at the Belmont Treatment Plant)

Sept 11, 1904
Record: "Belmont Filter Beds" (editorial on typhoid)
North American, editorial: "Mixed Water"

Sept. 22, 1904
Inquirer: "'Germ Proof Filter Impossible,' says...) Report of Franklin Institute's fall meeting.

14-2. Board of Health Scrapbook
April 1907 to December 1908
Record Group 81.6

This volume is in better condition than the other scrapbook in Record Group 81.6, with clippings more stable and including page numbers.

April 21, 1907
North American: "Dixon Wins Builders to Hobst Bill and Sewer System"

October 23, 1907
Telegraph: (formation of Bureau of Tenement Inspection as part of Dept. of Health; can check annual reports for more details)

Oct. 25, 1907
(paper??), p. 43: (outbreak of typhoid)

June 29, 1907
North American, p. 45: "Evil Odors Keep All W. Phila. Indoors" (mentions Cedar Avenue Improvement Association and Forty-Ninth Street Station Improvement Association)

July 6, 1907
Ledger, p. 45 (also other papers): "High Officials Hunt a Dreadful Smell" (in West Phila., mayor, etc.; reporter hints reason they didn't find source of bad smell was that it was coming from inside the car they were driving)

Jan. 19, 1908
Record, cover story with photos: (Tenement conditions)--several part series?

Feb. 15, 1908
Ledger, small article, p. 88: "Typhoid Increases Except in Filtered Water Sections"
June 4, 1908
Ledger, with photo: "Evils of Slums Shown to the Mayor"

June 15, 1908
Record, with photo: "Life in the City's Crowded Spots"

Sept. 15, 1908
Press: "Sewage Disposal Next Big Problem"