Because it's a neat bit of history, is why.The repair work was routine: replacing a water line on the 900 block of Spruce Street.
What workers found as they dug up the ground was a little more unusual: what looked like old tree trunks.
And what those logs actually were is a bit of history that can be found only in old cities like Philadelphia: 200-year-old wooden water mains.
The wooden pipes found Wednesday were likely installed around 1812, according to an account of their discovery from the Philadelphia Water Department.
The historic nature of the find was brought to the department's attention by a passerby. Julie Snell, a self-described tree geek who teaches a Temple University class on urban ecosystems, saw the scene while biking and contacted Water Department historian Adam Levine, whom Snell had previously heard speak about wooden water mains.
Snell's intervention led to the wooden mains' being saved for use in educational demonstrations, the department said.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/Wooden-water-mains-Spruce-Street-May-2017.html
