Palmyra Cove Nature Park encompasses 250 acres of woodlands, wetlands, a tidal cove, and river shoreline, and more than 250 bird species have been observed there. Lardner's Point Pumping Station was the heart of Philadelphia's water treatment system after 200 years in which the city used the Delaware River as a dump for sewage and industrial waste until outbreaks of typhoid and cholera forced construction of the system, which was operating by 1909 and pumped clean water to homes and factories across Philadelphia. The Disston & Sons Complex is a former saw factory that was once America's leading saw maker, and old grindstones used in making Disston saws are visible on the shoreline. Glen Foerd is a turn of the century Italianate house that served as a country home for wealthy Philadelphians, with grounds that include the mansion, rebuilt boathouse, and one hundred year-old carriage house. Andalusia mansion features Greek Revival architecture and was home to Nicholas Biddle, identified here as the nation's most powerful early 19th Century banker. Tidal wetlands once lined the banks of the Delaware River, ranging from large marshy areas covered with grasses, sedges, and other plants to patches of mud exposed at low tides, and although most have been lost to development, those that remain still provide important wildlife habitat and support a great diversity of plants and animals.
