The Municipal Pier Construction Photograph Collection contains eighty-seven progress photographs documenting the construction of municipal piers on the Delaware River waterfront under the auspices of the Philadelphia Department of Wharves, Docks and Ferries. The construction was part of a progressive-era project to upgrade Philadelphia’s severely neglected port infrastructure. In the early decades of the 20th century, the Department oversaw the construction of dozens of new piers designed to accommodate ships with much greater draw, enable the loading and unloading of more than one ship simultaneously, and the facilitate the transfer of cargo to railroads, trucks and wagons. The piers depicted in this collection served as marine-railroad terminals linking the river and the Pennsylvania, B&O and Reading railroad yards. Considerably larger than any piers previously constructed by the city, Pier 9 North measured 100 feet in width and was 536 feet long while piers in the Moyamensing Group ranged from 250 to 336 feet in width and from 900 to 1,000 feet in length.

Curated by Jennifer Ambrose.

Resources

Municipal Pier Construction Photograph Collection, 1917-1921 Online Inventory