The Altered Landscape
"There have been great changes in the face of [Philadelphia], in its levels and contour, and in the direction and beds of its water-courses since the days of the Swedes and the early Quakers. Some streams have disappeared, some have changed their direction, nearly all have been reduced in volume and depth by the natural silt, the annual washing down of hills, by the demands of industry for water-power, the construction of mill-dams and mill-races and bridges, the emptying of manufacturing refuse from factories, saw-pits, and tan-yards, and by the grading and sewerage necessary in the building of a great city. In this process, old landmarks and ancient contours are not respected, the picturesque yields to utility, and the face of nature is transformed to meet the exigencies of uniform grades, levels and drainage".
–J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia 1609-1884
The alteration of the city's original landscape began in earnest as early as the mid-1700s and continued unabated into the 20th century. Generations of public officials intentionally leveled the cityscape to improve health, hygiene, and transportation. In the process, high ground was gradually dug out and cut down, and low areas were filled in and buried.
This photo shows one of the city's many prominent landscape features that have been lost due to development. The stairway represents a remnant of the high bluff that once lined the west bank of the Delaware River, between Front St. (background) and Water St. (foreground). Virtually all traces of this bluff were removed by the construction of I-95 in the early 1970s.
No controlled, thorough archaeological investigations were conducted in advance of that project. Consequently, a huge swath of the oldest section of the city was destroyed, and a vital part of Philadelphia's archaeological legacy was permanently erased.
In the process of gradually transforming the environment of the city, the many streams that once crossed interior lands were run into culverts, buried underground, and turned into sewers. Fortunately, detailed maps of the city's sewers kept by the Water Department allow us to re-create where these streams once flowed, and help archaeologists know where to look for potential preserved Native American sites.
