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1949 Map of Philadelphia

Name: 1949 Topographic Map of Philadelphia
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1959
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1959

About this map

The confluence of the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River defines the industrial and civic heart of Philadelphia in the years following World War II. The urban landscape is dense with institutional landmarks, from the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel Inst to the imposing State Penitentiary and Girard College. Significant transit infrastructure dominates the waterfronts, including the Pennsylvania RR lines and the massive Benjamin Franklin Bridge connecting to Camden.

To the south, the US Naval Reservation and Mustin Airfield represent the city's strategic maritime importance, while the Philadelphia International Airport marks the expanding reach of modern aviation. Cultural and recreational spaces like Fairmount Park and Municipal Stadium provide relief from the grid of Philadelphia, while older layers of the city's history are preserved in the Old Cathedral Cemetery and Woodlands Cemetery.