Stephanie Craighead

Friends of the Wissahickon

In 1924 a handful of watchful and passionate citizens set out to ensure the preservation of the Wissahickon Valley Park, which was challenged by chestnut blight, severe ice storms, and encroaching development. These citizens committed to meeting the park needs that a strained city budget could not, and involved themselves in both governance and restoration issues related to the preservation of the Valley. For eighty-eight years the mission of FOW, "to preserve the natural beauty and wildness of the Wissahickon Valley and stimulate public interest therein", has remained constant while the scope of our work has grown enormously. Today's FOW, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with over 1600 members, works in partnership with the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Department (formerly Fairmount Park), the Philadelphia Water Department and dozens of other regional partners on a wide range of programs including watershed education, trail maintenance and park user safety.