Event – Detail

Co-curator of the exhibition Lost Creeks of Philadelphia, Adam Levine will discuss why and how, between the 1760s and the 1960s, hundreds of miles of the Philadelphia’s surface streams were channeled into underground sewers that became integral to the drainage of the expanding urban grid and how this work still affects the city today.

The lecture starts at 6pm. Come early to view the exhibition on its opening night. Light refreshments will follow the talk.

Adam E. Levine first began researching the city’s lost creeks in 1988, after learning that Mill Creek in West Philadelphia had been buried in a sewer. In 1997 he wrote a newspaper story about the city’s sewer system, which led to a job with the Philadelphia Water Department as an historical consultant, which continues to this day. As part of PWD’s public affairs team, Levine presents lectures about the city’s water and sewer infrastructure, leads tours of the city’s hidden watersheds, maintains the PWD Historical Collection and curates the department’s history website, WaterHistoryPHL.org. His book, tentatively titled The Lost Landscapes of Philadelphia, will be published by Temple University Press in 2027.

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