The images contained in this digital collection document Philadelphia’s past through its neighborhoods, buildings, and events. They are drawn from the Philadelphiana Collection, which contains over 20,000 historical images of Philadelphia. The earliest photograph in the collection dates back to 1841; most are from the latter half of the 19th century, with a few from the early 20th century. These images represent a small fraction of the photographs, drawings, paintings, and ephemera Philadelphiana has to offer.

Philadelphiana is housed in the Print and Picture Collection at The Free Library. Print and Pictures combines an immense circulating collection of images with several important reference collections of prints, photographs, and drawings. The Collection serves a diverse clientele of students, artists, local historians, and historic preservationists.