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30-570: On October 21, 1871, a communication was received by the Trustees from Mr. Edwin N. Benson, an honorary member of the Corps, tendering "the sum of Two Thousand Dollars to defray the expenses of erecting a granite monument, in a proper place, to the memory of the gallant comrades who fell in the war for the Union," suggesting it be completed and dedicated on the occasion of the semi-centennial Anniversary of

60-532: A Classical Revival exterior, became a tourist attraction for its beauty and its location on the riverside. Visitors included Charles Dickens , who praised it for its pleasant design and public usefulness. Another English visitor, Fanny Trollope , in her 1832 book Domestic Manners of the Americans , mentioned the Water Works: There is one spot, however, about a mile from the town, which presents

90-1096: A city department created in 2010 from the merger of the Fairmount Park Commission and the Department of Recreation. Many of the city's other parks had historically also been included in the Fairmount Park system prior to 2010, including Wissahickon Valley Park in Northwest Philadelphia , Pennypack Park in Northeast Philadelphia , Cobbs Creek Park in West Philadelphia , Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in South Philadelphia , and 58 additional parks, parkways, plazas, squares, and public golf courses spread throughout

120-704: A large collection of public art, largely attributable to efforts of the Association for Public Art , known previously as the Fairmount Park Art Association, a non-profit organization founded in 1872 to embellish Fairmount Park with outdoor sculpture, including the Medici lions known as the Florentine Lions installed in 1887. The Art Association continues to commission and care for a large number of sculptures, in coordination with

150-777: A lovely scene. The water-works of Philadelphia have not yet perhaps as wide extended fame as those of Marley , but they are not less deserving it. At a most beautiful point of the Schuylkill River the water has been forced up into a magnificent reservoir, ample and elevated enough to send it through the whole city. The vast yet simple machinery by which this is achieved is open to the public, who resort in such numbers to see it, that several evening stages run from Philadelphia to Fair Mount for their accommodation. The Fairmount Water Works eventually closed in 1909 when several newer and more technologically updated facilities were built. Completed in 1822, Fairmount Dam cut diagonally across

180-585: A meeting of the "Old Guard of the Artillery Corps, Washington Grays," held February 22, 1906, a committee consisting of the Trustees and Comrade Captain John O. Foering was appointed to procure and have erected upon the base of the monument in Washington Square a bronze figure of a "Washington Gray" in the old uniform. The Committee reported at the meeting of May 4, 1908, that they had attended to

210-419: A popular tourist attraction. It now houses a restaurant and an interpretive center that explains the waterworks' purpose and local watershed history. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its architecture and its engineering innovations. It was the nation's first water supply to use paddle wheels to move water. Following a series of yellow fever epidemics in the late 18th century, which

240-472: A pump house with two steam engines to pump water. Between 1819 and 1821, a 1,600-foot-long (490 m) dam was built across the Schuylkill to direct water to a Mill House with three water wheels that replaced the steam engines in 1822. Later, Jonval turbines were used to lift the water in a New Mill House and in the renovated Old Mill House. The facility, the industrial nature of which was disguised by

270-647: A servant's cottage constructed of stone which still exists. The cottage was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe and is presently known as the Sedgeley Porter's House. Fairmount Water Works The Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , was Philadelphia's second municipal waterworks . Designed in 1812 by Frederick Graff and built between 1812 and 1872, it operated until 1909, winning praise for its design and becoming

300-557: Is located in Fairmount Park. The 1923 and 1976 USA Cross Country Championships were held in the park. The park grew out of the Lemon Hill estate of Henry Pratt , whose land was originally owned by Robert Morris , signer of the Declaration of Independence . Purchased by the city in 1844, the estate was dedicated to the public by city council's ordinance on September 15, 1855. A series of state and local legislative acts over

330-486: Is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River , with the two sections together totalling 2,052 acres (830 ha). Management of Fairmount Park and the entire citywide park system is overseen by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation ,

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360-614: The Frankford neighborhood of the city. Cedar Grove was relocated to the park in 1926–1928. Other historic houses in the park, listed by year of construction, include Boelson Cottage (1678–84), The Lilacs (c. 1711), Letitia Street House (c. 1713), Ridgeland Mansion (1719), Belmont Mansion (1745), The Cliffs (1753; ruins since a fire in 1986), Woodford Mansion (1756), Hatfield House (1760), Randolph House (c. 1767; renamed Laurel Hill Mansion in 1976), Strawberry Mansion (c. 1783–89), The Solitude (1784–85; located within

390-478: The Corps. The base of the monument was unveiled at the intersection of Broad Street and Girard Avenue, with impressive and appropriate ceremonies on Friday, April 19, 1872, at 3 o'clock P. M., and the day concluded with a banquet of which three hundred persons partook, at the Continental Hotel. The monument was subsequently removed from the place of its dedication to the centre of Washington Square. At

420-706: The Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center (FWWIC), a hands-on science and environmental educational center, created by the Philadelphia Water Department. The FWWIC offers interactive exhibits, lectures, events, and school programs. In December 2004, Michael Karloutsos won a 25-year, $ 120,000/year lease with the Fairmount Park Commission. After a highly publicized renovation, Karloutsos opened Water Works Restaurant and Lounge within

450-657: The Union League of Philadelphia. The First Regiment Infantry of Pennsylvania & Fairmount Park Commission through the efforts of a combined committee of those organizations. The Union League of Philadelphia Robert M. Flood Jr., President Stanley W. Root Jr., Esq. Chairman Leon Clemmer A.I.A., Architect Raymond K. Denworth, Esquire First Regiment Infantry of Pennsylvania Colonel Jack C. Betson, Pres. Major William M. Barnes, Sec'y Fairmount Park Commission F Eugene Dixon, Jr., Chairman signed Founder's mark appears. Fairmount Park Fairmount Park

480-617: The Wissahickon Valley Park part of Fairmount Park. Park properties include the Centennial Arboretum , a Horticulture Center , Fairmount Water Works , Memorial Hall (home of the Please Touch Museum ), Shofuso Japanese House and Garden , Boathouse Row , Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse , recreation centers, reservoirs, statues and other pieces of art. Fairmount Park is home to

510-490: The city. Since the 2010 merger, however, the term "Fairmount Park system" is no longer used by the Parks & Recreation department, and the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park and all other park areas are considered completely separate entities. Fairmount Park, Philadelphia 's first park, occupies 2,052 acres (830 ha) adjacent to the banks of the Schuylkill River . Since 2010, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation divides

540-485: The demand of the increasing numbers of city residents and to solve the problem of inadequate storage capacity. The Fairmount Water Works was initially constructed between 1812 and 1815 on the east bank of the Schuylkill River . The Water Works initially consisted of a 3 million US gallons (11,000,000 L) earthen reservoir atop Faire Mount at the present site of the Philadelphia Museum of Art , and

570-471: The duty assigned them, and defrayed the entire cost ($ 5000) out of the Treasury of the old Guard without assistance from any other source whatever, and that the figure had been made by John A. Wilson and had been uncovered without ceremony in the presence of the few surviving members of the old Guard at 7 o'clock on the morning of Saturday, April 18, 1908. John Oppell Foering described the monument: In 1954

600-788: The establishment of the Park Commission in 1867, while Lemon Hill and Sedgeley were added in 1855–56. After the American Civil War , work progressed on acquiring and laying out West Park. In the 1870s, the Fairmount Park Commission expropriated properties along the Wissahickon Creek to extend Fairmount Park. The Schuylkill River Trail is a modern paved multi-use trail by Kelly Drive in the East Park. The Belmont Plateau Cross Country Course

630-425: The monument was moved to Lemon Hill and remained unprotected for almost four decades. The unnamed Grays soldier suffered the neglect of an uninterested public. Bored kids probably assaulted the statue with stones, knocking off his bayonet and plume. The monument was moved to its present location in 1991. The inscription reads: J. Wilson Bureau Bros. This statue was dedicated at this site on June 14, 1991 By

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660-473: The next three years increased the holdings of the city. In 1858, the city held a design competition to re-landscape Lemon Hill and Sedgeley for public use as the best way to better protect the city's water supply. (Ironically the land the Sedgeley mansion was built on had originally been owned by Robert Morris although after his bankruptcy it had been sold to a different purchaser then Henry Pratt). The park

690-789: The original park into East and West Fairmount parks. The original domain of Fairmount Park consisted of three areas: South Park or the South Garden immediately below the Fairmount Water Works extending to the Callowhill Street Bridge; Old Park, which encompassed the former estates of Lemon Hill and Sedgeley ; and West Park, the area including the Philadelphia Zoo , and the Centennial Exposition grounds. The South Garden predated

720-552: The park and city. In 2007, the Art Association installed Iroquois by Mark di Suvero near the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway . Mount Pleasant , built in 1762–65 for a Scottish ship captain named John Macpherson, is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art . The Art Museum also administers Cedar Grove Mansion , a house built in 1748–50 in what later became

750-727: The river, channeled water into the Waterworks, and acted as a spillway . The Schuylkill is a tidal river , so it also prevented brackish water in the Delaware River from mixing with the fresh water. Above it, the dam created the "Schuylkill Pond", several miles of tranquil water used for recreation. After the waterworks closed in 1909 the facility was used for several purposes, including the Philadelphia Aquarium , which closed in 1962, and an indoor swimming pool which closed in 1973. Attempts have been made to return

780-403: The waterworks to its previous position as an engaging tourist attraction. Despite a severe fire which caused setbacks to the restoration, an interpretive center has now been added and tours are regularly given. Its position near Boathouse Row and the Philadelphia Museum of Art is hoped to aid in making it a regularly visited tourist site once more. The Fairmount Water Works buildings now house

810-408: The wooden tanks, the water was gravity fed into a series of wooden water mains. The system was plagued with problems. If either of the steam engines failed, the water supply to the city was cut off. The committee began searching for another solution and eventually picked John Davis and Frederick Graff, Latrobe's apprentice and successor as chief engineer, to design a new waterworks, in order to meet

840-488: The zoo), Sweetbriar Mansion (1797), Ormiston Mansion (1798), Lemon Hill Mansion (1800), Chamounix Mansion (1802), Rockland Mansion (c. 1810), and the Ohio House which was built for the Centennial Exposition of 1876. Sedgeley Mansion was built in 1799 on Lemon Hill, then abandoned and later demolished after being acquired through eminent domain by the city in 1857. The Sedgeley property also included

870-493: Was at the time thought to be caused by unclean water or by rotting matter in the streets, city leaders appointed a "Watering Committee". The initial water system was designed by Benjamin Latrobe and accepted by the committee in 1799. His system utilized two steam engines in series to pump water from the Schuylkill River , into the city, then into two wooden tanks that held a total of just 57,000 US gallons (220,000 L). From

900-698: Was the site of the 1876 Centennial Exposition and the first zoo in the United States, the Philadelphia Zoo , and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Wissahickon Valley Park, located adjacent to the park's immediate northwest, was included in the Fairmount Park NRHP registration document. The outdoor scenes of the 2000 period art-horror film A Chronicle of Corpses were shot in Carpenter's Woods in

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