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Philadelphia History: Municipal Documents

Philadelphia City Archives

 The Philadelphia City Archives, an unit of the Philadelphia Department of Records,  was created under the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter of 1952, §5-1101(d) to "Preserve all City records not in current use and of historical, administrative, legal, research, cultural or other important value in the archives of the City which shall be under the care and supervision of an archivist." To accomplish this, the City Archives gathered historic records from agencies citywide. As Philadelphia has not experienced any major natural disasters during the city's existence, the City Archives are rich and deep in historic materials.

Finding Philadelphia Government Publications in the Library

Publications of the City of Philadelphia can be found in Franklin by searching Philadelphia (Pa.) plus the name of the agency as an Author. Examples with links to Franklin are listed below. Don't forget to search WorldCat in the same way, to see what other area libraries have.

City Planning Documents

Selected Philadelphia Municipal Documents

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