About historical images
Summary
Each week, hundreds of historic photos of Philadelphia are added to the Philadelphia City Archive. In this section of EveryBlock, you can get notified when the city archive publishes a historic photo that was taken in your neighborhood.
Most of the photos are historical and include material from the 1800s to the present.
Source
The images come from the city archives' search page. Images are added all the time, and we at EveryBlock look for new ones each day.
How are the photos being added to the online archive?
The Philadelphia City Archive has an estimated 2 million images that date back to the late 1800s. EveryBlock publishes images added to the city's online photo archives.
Interns are in the process of scanning the city's photo archives. The photos are published online and are also kept in a separate server in the city hall photo unit, which processes requests for photo purchases.
Some photos come from the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Water Department. The Records Department has funded most of the work, and The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has also provided some funding. The Cartographic Modeling Lab at University of Pennsylvania provides hosting for the project.
The city has a list of featured photos and a city history blog.
