Beginning in the 1850s, French government official Georges Haussmann (1809–1891) directed major renovations of Paris’ infrastructure, including its water and sewer systems. Charles Meryon’s etching shows a 17th-century pumphouse that once supplied water to the city. After the water supply system was modernized, the pumphouse was ordered to be demolished by the municipal government. Meryon made this detailed record of the structure, which was one of several etchings he made chronicling Old Paris during this period of transformation. Similarly, Gabrielle Niel’s etching, created more than 20 years later, continues to document the changing urban landscape. It depicts the void that was left following the demolition of a grand 17th-century structure on the Île Saint Louis that was torn down in 1874 to make space for new bridges and a boulevard that would connect the left and right banks of the Seine River.