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Copyright © 2004 Will Brown, All Rights Reserved
The Fairmount Waterworks was conceived in 1811, to meet the growing demands of Philadelphia's populace. A rock ledge on the Schuykill River at Fair Mount, the highest ground in the city was selected as the site. A pump house for two steam engines was designed by Frederick Graff to send water from river to a reservoir atop a hill just above,. It resembled a typical Federal period house with graceful details, belying the massive engine cylinders, pumps, flywheels and lever beams within. It was an aesthetically pleasing building to house a potentially dangerous function, and was to inspire additional such design as the situation developed. About 1820 the dam and mill house was built and there was a conversion from steam to water power. Gardens were completed to the south, and an esplanade, paths and fountains were built around and to the top of Fair Mount. Philadelphia's water system was then the most advanced municipal system in the world, and between 1830 and 1850 visitors traveled from around the country and the world to marvel at it. In 1855 Fairmount Park was established, which preserves much natural beauty in the city to this day. Soon after a new mill house was built. Boat houses were built along the river just north of the Waterworks for oarsmen to enjoy the calm, navigable waters above the dam. In time the system waned. In 1911 it was decommissioned. In 1919 the reservoir space at the top of the hill was filled in, and was the site of beginning construction of the Philadelphia Museum of Art where it remains today.
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