Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with the two sections together totalling 2,052 acres (830 ha). Management of Fairmount Park and the entire citywide park system is overseen by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, a city department created in 2010 from the merger of the Fairmount Park Commission and the Department of Recreation.
Belmont Plateau view toward Center City
Equestrian statue of Ulysses S. Grant by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter
East Fairmount Park, c. 1900
One of the Florentine Lions
The Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was Philadelphia's second municipal waterworks. Designed in 1812 by Frederick Graff and built between 1812 and 1872, it operated until 1909, winning praise for its design and becoming a popular tourist attraction. It now houses a restaurant and an interpretive center that explains the waterworks' purpose and local watershed history. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its architecture and its engineering innovations. It was the nation's first water supply to use paddle wheels to move water.
Fairmount Water Works – view from 1984
Fairmount Water Works, Philadelphia, between 1860 and 1880
"Schuylkill Waterworks", 1835 engraving
Fairmount Water Works, Philadelphia, about 1874