Typical Privies, Outhouses, and Cess Pits

Three Outhouses (dirty) and laundry and tree (1904) , Courtesy of Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

These are scenes from backyards of New York City from the early twentieth century and archaeological excavations from backyards of New Orleans from the same period. While the housing types were different in each city, the nature of urban living during the early 1900s was remarkably similar.

Outhouses and lean-tos (1905). Courtesy of Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Small, two-brick wide privy shaft at 316 N. Franklin Street. Courtesy of UNO ARC.

‹›

Click between the two images to see the above-ground structure vs. the below-ground infrastructure.

These two photos paint a picture of an outhouse, both above and below. The outhouses pictured here would likely housed small, small, single-seater toilets. They would have typically been located along the property lines or clustered along other outdoor sheds that would have housed cisterns, wells, garden equipment, and storage. Below the outhouse structure could have been a shallow, brick-lined privy shaft typical of the late-nineteenth, early-twentieth century. In this case, the privy floor is lined with brick, and the walls of the privy sink are approximately two-brick high and two-bricks wide, as mandated by the City Council Ordinances of 1896.

Cluttered Outhouses (1905). Courtesy of Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Divided brick-lined privy shaft from 1220-1222 Freret Street. Courtesy of ESI and UNO ARC.

‹›

Click between the two images to see the above-ground structure vs. the below-ground infrastructure.

This two-seater outhouse could have been situated on top of a divided privy shaft like the one excavated from 1220 Freret Street. The dividing wall of the brick-lined privy sink could have provided support for the dividing wall of the wooden outhouse above. Often, privies sinks are divided in two by a brick barrier. This likely would have been a privacy barrier between two separate "stalls", and either located within one property or straddling the property line, as shows in the archival photograph.

Backyard with laundry and outhouse and man (1905), Courtesy of Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Large brick-lined privy shaft from the back of a Storyville brothel at 319 Basin Street. Courtesy of ESI and UNO ARC.

‹›

Click between the two images to see the above-ground structure vs. the below-ground infrastructure.

This outhouse is rather large, and in New York City, likely serviced tenement houses. It would have been above something like the elongated privy sink. While New Orleans did have tenements, this privy shaft in particular serviced patrons of 319 Basin Street, a Storyville brothel, during the turn of the twentieth century. The shift to municipal sewerage occurred city-wide during Storyville's era, and so this privy likely was in use during the first decade of the District. The owners of the house likely constructed a large wooden structure above it to service the clientele.

View of Construction Site Showing Brick Sewer System. Men are Partially visible behind wood reinforcement beams. Courtesy of Historic New Orleans Collection, 1989.66.35.
Brick-lined cess pit from the 1920-1940s. Courtesy of UNO ARC.

‹›

Click between the two images to see a historic photo vs. the below-ground infrastructure.

In New Orleans, these circular, brick cess-pits were constructed as a stop-gap measures to collect household sewerage in the 1920-1940s. Houses constructed in neighborhoods that were developing in tangent with sewer and drainage infrastructure were often constructed with cess pits like these until proper house connection lines extended to them.