Milnor Street & Levick Street, Philadelphia PA 19135
(south of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge at Delaware River)
© Harry C. Silcox, Ed.D.,
Workshop of the World (Oliver Evans Press,
1990).
Lardner's Point pumping
station, named after the captain of the ship which
brought William Penn to America, was built in 1906. It
pumped water from the Torresdale Water Works to the
entire city east of the Schuylkill River. It was featured
in the Practical Engineer in 1907 when it was providing
water for 1.1 million Philadelphians. Located directly
south of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, the plant consisted
of two buildings constructed to pump twenty million
gallons of water per day. The structure of the building
more resembles a library than a water pumping station.
Large windows, with fine brick work, make the structure
distinctive despite its practical use.
In 1939, the City replaced the steam-powered pumping
engines with electric engines. Today, only one of the
buildings remains but it still functions as a pumping
station for the Torresdale water works.
1
1 The Practical Engineer,
Vol. XII, No. 2, March 1908, pp. 3-7.
Update May
2007 (by
Torben Jenk):
Still functions as a pumping
station for Philadelphia's Baxter Water Treatment Plant.
Upon completion in 1906, it was the largest pumping
station in the world.