The Evolution of Morris Park

From farm to industry to recreation in West Philadelphia

Philadelphia Water Department

Title image: The old Mill Complex on Indian Creek (circa 1915); showcasing the transition from farmland, to industry, as the city’s rowhomes simultaneously advance.

About Morris Park

In the early 1900s, the Morris family and the Rhoads family donated former farm land (about 20 acres and 12 acres, respectively) in the area to the City of Philadelphia.

Over the next decade, as the area continued to develop, more land was purchased by, or donated to, the City. The goal was to protect the two branches of Indian Creek and create a public park.

Today, Morris Park includes 117 acres of trails, meadow, woods, and water infrastructure, as well as Papa Playground.

About this tour

This story map is an online expansion of the physical map created as a walking tour, which was designed to educate and engage residents and park enthusiasts around prominent features of both branches of Indian Creek, as well as Morris Park and Papa Playground. This tour is presented by the Public Affairs division of the Philadelphia Water Department , with support from Parks & Recreation and the Friends of Morris Park .

Morris Park history is just a walk away...

Labeled 1915 photo of many uses along Indian Creek

Labeled 1915 photo of mills near Indian Creek

These two graphically enhanced historic photos show how much history is present in Morris Park. These images are a great introduction to the supplemental information this storymap contains.

The next sections of this storymap showcase the area’s transition from woods, to farmland, then to industry, and then finally to the public park space we know and love. Interspersed along the way will be stormwater infrastructure projects the Philadelphia Water Department has installed to help protect local waterways and comply with state and federal water pollution requirements.

From forest to farm

The first Europeans to settle here used the area's dense forests for fuel and to build houses.

After they cleared the land of trees, they used it for raising animals and farming.

Main photo: Philip Esrey's house and farm - Haverford Road near City Avenue, 1915

Kennedy Farm 1915 — Kennedy Farm, 66th & City Avenue, 1915

Leonard Frailey house at 70th and Woodbine 1915 — Leonard Frailey house, 70th & Woodbine, 1915

Philip Esrey house and farm, Haverford Road near City Avenue, 1915

Industry in the Park

Water, and its ability to move wheels and turbines, was the next resource tapped by the landowners here. By the late 1700s dams were built on both the east and west branches of Indian Creek. The water was rerouted through raceways to power mills and produce things like flour, lumber, and later, wool and cotton products.

Main photo: The Ruins, shown here in an 1879 insurance survey, was one of several factories along Indian Creek that made a variety of woolen and cotton textile products.

Old mills in Morris Park 1915 — This 1915 view shows how city rowhouses were encroaching on The Ruins complex. If the land had not been given as a park, the valley would have been as densely built as the surrounding neighborhood.

Hydee Mill and Coaquanock Mill in 1915 — The Hydee Mill (left) and the Coaquanock Mill (right) also made various textile products. All three mills contributed various pollutants to the creek, including dyes and bleach (1915).

The City's First Plan

Main photo: Smedley map, 1860

Having trouble finding Morris Park on this 1860 map? That’s because at this time the city was planning to bury both branches of Indian Creek underground (to be converted into sewers), and fill the area’s valleys. Streets, rowhomes, and all the infrastructure associated with them, would have then been built on top of where the park now stands. Thankfully, a gift of land along the creek by Wistar Morris in 1910 spurred the City to preserve both branches of the creek and create Morris Park instead.

1910 map with approximate area of Morris Park today — The diagonal slashes show the approximate area of Morris Park today. The solid green shows the extent of the park in 1910. The mill dam and mill complex can be seen on the left hand side of this map. Again, note that the City had plans (in the form of solid grey ‘street’ lines) to fully develop this area into houses for the growing population.

Section of 1910 map of City's street plan near Morris Park

Park improvements

The park has changed with people's recreational interests. Paths for horses became walking trails. Tennis courts became athletic fields. In 1976, the Papa Playground building was built.

In mid-2020 three rain gardens will be constructed adjacent to Papa Playground, and local sewers will be relined. A shallow stormwater sewer will bring street runoff to the newly constructed rain gardens in the park. All of these improvements will help protect Indian Creek’s water quality. This can be seen at Tour Stop A on the scrolling map below.

As seen by the images below, the Friends of Morris Park, and surrounding neighbors, are actively working to make sure the fields, trails, and surrounding woods are well taken care of (photos courtesy of the Friends of Morris Park Facebook page ).

Main photo: The Murmurations perform in an old quarry, 2014

Stream restoration on the West Branch of Indian Creek in Morris Park, 2008

Morris Park Walking Tour

Suggested Tour Stops

01 / 07

To see every stop, plan for a 1 - 2 hour walk. Or, you can visit just a few stops for a shorter experience.

Tour Stop A: Future Rain Gardens

These rain gardens will store disconnected stormwater from Lebanon & Leeds Street to protect Indian Creek. They will be filled with native plants.

Schematic of rain garden — A diagram showing how a rain garden works.

Rain gardens under construction, February 2020

Overbrook Trolley circa 1906 — **History Near This Stop:** Trolley lines ran along Lansdowne Avenue and throughout this area (1906).

Tour Stop B: Stream Restoration

Indian Creek used to run underground into a sewer before PWD blocked that entrance and returned the stream to its natural place. The stream and its banks are now protected against erosion by re-graded sides and large rocks.

West Branch of Indian Creek entering culvert before completion of daylighting project — West Branch Indian Creek flow entering the underground culvert, prior to the completion of the daylighting project.

Water diversion operation during construction of bank revetment at the confluence of the East and West Branches of Indian Creek.

Excavation and measurement for the construction of bank revetment structure at the confluence of the East and West Branches of Indian Creek.

Step pools constructed along the West Branch Indian Creek at the confluence with the East Branch (in the background).

Rhoads family home — **History Near This Stop:** The Rhoads Family, a major land donor to the city/park, owned land in this area from the 1600s through the 1920s.

Tour Stop C: Mill Dam

A dam on the creek here created a large pond. Water from the pond flowed down through a race way to the mill and was used to manufacture textiles.

Map of the pond created by the dam, and the race way from the pond to the mill — This map shows the pond created by the dam, and the race way from the pond to the mill.

Unknown dam similar to the one that once stood here, circa 1900 — A dam once stood here that may have looked like the one in this photo from about 1900, which shows an unknown location nearby.

Unknown pond similar to the one that once stood here, circa 1898 — Behind the dam a pond of water like the one in this photo, taken in 1898 along Indian Creek, would have formed. The water from a mill pond flowed in artificial channels, called races, to downstream mills. There it was used either to power equipment, or for industrial processes such as bleaching and dyeing.

Seller's Dam on Cobbs Creek, 1900 — This 1900 photo shows Seller's Dam, which was located on Cobb's Creek, which provided water for a large flour mill in Millbourne Borough, Delaware County, along Market Street just west of the Philadelphia city line.

Violet farmer Louise Couche's horse and buggy — **History Near This Stop:** Louis Couche was a French immigrant who built a violet farm near 72nd & Haverford in the 1880s. Violets were sold via horse and buggy for 5c a bunch!

Tour Stop D: The Ruins Mill Site

Originally built on land just behind the Rhoads estate, the site suffered many fires, partly due to flammable materials stored there, hence the name.

The Ruins mill complex showing two dwelling houses on a hill above the factory, 1915 — Another view of The Ruins mill complex, showing two dwelling houses on a hill above the factory. (1915)

Tour Stop E: Quarries

Several quarries once operated in this area. Stone from these quarries were used to build houses in Overbrook and Haddington.

A quarry similar to the one that operated in this area in the early 1900s — Many quarries like this one operated in the area at the beginning of the 1900s, providing stone for building the many new houses being constructed. This 1907 photo shows a quarry near this site, on Haverford Avenue west of 70th Street.

Large quarry on Vine Street west of 65th Street in 1909 — This image shows the view of a large quarry on Vine Street, west of 65th Street, in 1909. The Cobbs Creek valley is in the background.

Schematic of drainage well — **Infrastructure Near This Stop:** A drainage well, which is basically a stormwater runoff well in the street, was installed at the intersection of Malvern Avenue & Atwood Road as part of the *Green City, Clean Waters* program.

Tour Stop F: Exposed Sewer Pipes

A sewer running alongside Indian Creek diverts sewage from the neighborhood to a treatment plant.

Raised manhole — The height of this sewer pipe is a clue that the city once had plans to fill in this area and bury the stream. The manhole at the top of this pipe would have been at street level if the City had gone through with this plan.

Indian Creek Daylighting: Before and After

Prior to 2008, the west branch of the creek ran directly into the sewer. As part of PWD’s Green City, Clean Waters stream restoration plan, this section of stream was ‘daylit’ in 2012 to provide stormwater storage and native habitat for Morris Park.

Use the ‘slider’ function below to see the before-and-after images of PWD’s Indian Creek daylighting project.