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As Philadelphia grew in size in the late eighteenth century, it became clear that there was an increasing need for a supply of clean water. This demand was intensified by the Yellow Fever epidemics in 1793 and 1798. Benjamin H. Latrobe was hired to design a system using the water from the Schuylkill River. A pump was set up at the foot of Chestnut Street to pump water from the Schuylkill to street level, whence it flowed to Centre Square. There, Latrobe designed a building in the neo-classical style which housed a steam engine to pump water up to a holding tank on the upper floor, with the water then distributed throughout the city by gravity via wooden pipes. The Centre Square Waterworks was started in 1800 and opened on January 27, 1801. This waterworks remained in operation for just over a decade, at which time it was replaced by the Fairmount Waterworks. The Centre Square building was used as a distribution tank until it was torn down in 1829.
William Birch. "The Water Works, in Centre Square Philadelphia. Philadelphia: W. Birch, 1800. First edition. Hand colored. Margins trimmed to plate mark and diagonal tear in upper right hand portion of image. Expertly repaired.
When issued in 1800, William Birch's prints of Philadelphia formed the first series of views of any American city. As the first comprehensive picture of an American city, illustrating its buildings and street life, this work is of great historical importance. The superior quality of the work is evidenced in its scope of conception, the artistic excellence of the prints, and their fine execution. The prints provide a unique visual record of Philadelphia at a time when it was the most important and sophisticated city in the western hemisphere, and for a time was the capital of the newly formed United States. Each print shows a scene of the vibrant city, with the buildings providing a stately backdrop for the bustling activity that characterized Philadelphia, thus presenting both a physical picture of the city and a feel for its texture and vitality. This is Birch's view of the Centre Square waterworks. $1,800
William Birch. "The Water Works, in Centre Square Philadelphia. Drawn Engraved & Published by W. Birch near Neshaminy Bridge." [1809-1827]. Unrecorded state. Either late third or early fourth edition or issued between the third and fourth editions. Hand color. Framed.
This is a previously unrecorded state of Birch's view of the Centre Square waterworks. Long established scholarly research indicates that Birch did not add the William Rush fountain to the print until the fourth edition in 1827, along with an addition to the title stating that the building had been "Taken down in 1827." Curiously, this addition to the title is lacking in this print, even though the fountain is shown. $3,400
John James Barralet. "View of the Water Works At Centre Square Philadelphia." Philadelphia, ca. 1815-25. Second state. 11 3/4 x 20 1/8. Stipple by Cornelius Tiebout. Several tears into image expertly repaired and 2 inch x 1 inch portion of the image and margin replaced on the right hand side. Otherwise, very good condition. Very rare. Fowble: 286; Stauffer 3234.
This is the even rarer second state of the Barralet-Tiebout print, which can be identified by the addition of a small figure in the road between the two wagons. When H. Quig acquired Tiebout's plate, he added a small figure to the center of the print, perhaps in an attempt to enliven the scene. This figure was crudely engraved, quite out of scale, and so Quig attempted to burnish the image off the plate. Most likely, very few prints of the second state were printed before the figure was burnished out, thus making this print the most scarce of all of the four states. $2,400
John James Barralet. "View of the Water Works At Centre Square Philadelphia." Philadelphia: H. Quig, ca. 1830+. Fourth state. 11 3/4 x 20 1/8. Stipple by Cornelius Tiebout. Very good condition. Fowble: 286; Stauffer 3234, Prints of Philadelphia: 41.
This is the fourth state of the print, probably issued in the early 1830s. After adding the small, crudely engraved figure in the second state, Quig had the figure burnished out. This erasure was only partially successful, and so the third and fourth states of the print shows a light ghost image of this unfortunate interloper. The fourth state is distinguished from the third by the appearance of Quig's imprint at the bottom. $1,600
"Centre Square Philad'a." From The Casket. Philadelphia, October, 1831. 4 1/8 x 6 1/2. Engraving. Very good condition. Framed.
In 1826, Samuel C. Atkinson and Charles Alexander founded The Casket: Flowers of Literature, Wit and Sentiment. This monthly magazine ran until 1839, at which time it was purchased by George R. Graham. Graham soon combined it with Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and renamed the combined journal Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine. Though it had a fairly short run, the Casket was said to be the most widely circulated monthly in the United States. It included articles, stories, poetry, puzzles, and steel engraved illustrations, many of which showed scenes of Philadelphia. This is a good example of the output of the magazine. It is a retrospective view of the Centre Square Waterworks issued two years after the building was torn down. The park-like setting of the building is nicely depicted, and Rush's statue stands proudly in front of Latrobe's handsome edifice. $175
John James Barralet. "Centre Square. Erected in 1800. Taken Down in 1828." Philadelphia: Public Ledger, 1860. 7 x 12. Engraving by A.B. Walters. Printed by H. Quig. Very good margins and condition. Prints of Philadelphia: 193.
The use of prints for promotion extended to newspapers. In 1860, the Public Ledger issued this print for its paperboys to hand out to subscribers as an annual greeting. This print is identified as the "Ledger Carriers 1860 Annual Greeting." The print is a re-engraving of the Barralet image that had first appeared over three decades earlier (cf. above). It was sure to have been a most popular bonus. $450
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