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The Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia, America's first municipal water works, grew from efforts begun in 1798 to secure clean drinking water after yellow fever epidemics killed thousands. After the city's first pumping station opened at Centre Square in 1801, engineers Frederick Graff and John Davis proposed and built a new works on the Schuylkill River at Faire Mount, with the Engine House completed in 1815. The steam-powered system was converted to water power between 1818 and 1822, when the Old Mill House and Fairmount Dam were built to drive waterwheels, and reservoirs atop Faire Mount distributed water by gravity throughout the city. During the 1830s, the site was also developed as a public landscape with the Esplanade, South Garden, fountains, pavilions, paths, and sculpture, making the works both ornamental and useful. As demand grew, new technology was introduced, including the Standpipe, the New Mill House, and Jonval turbines, while later rebuilding added the Great Pavilion and Entrance Houses. The Watering Committee directed development and maintenance of the works and was the precursor of today's Philadelphia Water Department. Concern over pollution helped spur the creation of Fairmount Park and later the Fairmount Park Commission to protect the water supply, but pollution and space limits eventually led to the works' closure in 1909. From 1911 to 1962 the complex housed the Fairmount Park Aquarium, one of the first aquariums in the United States, before later alterations including construction of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a swimming pool. After decades of threat and decline, the site was preserved through restoration between 1982 and 2008.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States