This is the INTRODUCTION to my fourth book, Underground Philadelphia, soon to be published by The

History Press. In it, I discuss the origin and history of sewer, water, gas, steam, electric, telephone and
cable TV service in Philadelphia. I then move on to describe Philadelphia's transit infrastructuretunnels,
subways, underground concourses, and the like. Philadelphia trolleys, fire-fighting and the Underground
Railroad are covered too. My co-author is Joel Spivak.
--Harry Kyriakodis

INTRODUCTION
Perhaps no American city has as close a relationship with the subterranean world than does Philadelphia.
The municipality's association with the underground started in the 1680s when the City of Brotherly
Love was founded. Newcomers to William Penn's novel settlement along the Delaware River were
members of the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers), who came to the New World to escape
persecution in England. These early settlers resided in caves by the Delaware beginning in 1681; roughly
one-third of Philadelphia's population was living below ground the following year. Part of the Quaker City's
lore, these riverfront grottos allowed the colonists to survive while going about the business of
establishing the City of Philadelphia.
After dealing with the caves and Center City's buried creeks and sewers, the book turns to city
infrastructure related to the delivery of water, gas, steam, electricity and telephone service. The City of
Brotherly Love was a national leader in most of these utility services during the 19th and 20th centuries,
and most were first implemented in downtown Philadelphia. These lifeblood utilities helped make
Philadelphia the "Workshop of the World" during that time; all are functioning today, helping the modern
metropolis work and prosper. The dawning of each of these services in the Quaker City is not only
interesting, but should be venerated by modern Philadelphians.
This book then investigates the downtown infrastructure of the city's railroads and the stations of these
rail lines. Philadelphia was the railroad capital of the world in the mid-1800s, and it could be said that the
mighty Pennsylvania Railroad helped bring Philadelphia to industrial prominence in the last half of the
19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. The infrastructure of both the Pennsylvania Railroad and the
Reading Railroad still exists in the inner-city, and is coupled with the subterraneous groundwork of
Philadelphia's capable mass transit system. The Chinese Wall, the Reading Viaduct, the Commuter Rail
Tunnel, and Philadelphia's once-great trolley system are also discussed as part of its lengthy
transportation history.
Center City's underground pedestrian concourse network is striking for its breadth and interconnectivity,
a delight (for good or bad) to both urban explorers and newcomers to the city. The histories of
Philadelphia's transit lines are examined and their stations are described, as are several subways that
were never built for one reason or another, along with intriguing connections to Benjamin Franklin and
other illustrious Philadelphians, as well as the Underground Railroad. Modern highway tunnels and a few
important bridges and viaducts in the Center City area are also covered in this virtual tour of the anatomy
of the City of Philadelphia.
A book of this size cannot possibly delve into all the intricacies of Philadelphia's urban infrastructure, so
only highlights as they relate to tunnels, conduits and pipes are included, along with overviews of the
corresponding utilities and occasional forays out of Center City. Firefighting developments and cable TV
in Philadelphia are dealt with along the way before a unique Victorian system for the delivery of mail is
presented. This book then concludes with a look at some criminal activity underfoot and a description of
downtown archaeological efforts.
Philadelphia's geology, paranormal affairs, and burial grounds are not discussed, except in reference to
cemeteries as they affect specific individuals or archaeology. Various superlatives of Philadelphia are
mentioned along the way of this subsurface trek through town, especially in conjunction with the utilities in
which the city has played such a key role in developing for the United States and the world.
It will be seen that the Quaker City's infrastructure history is a fascinating topic and that the innovative
spirits of William Penn, Benjamin Franklin and other Philadelphians can still be detected in the city's
underground experience.