When Water and Gas Came Indoors

During much of the nineteenth century, water came from a backyard well, a spring, a cistern, or a community pump. It was carried into the house one bucket at a time. Bathing usually meant a basin or a portable tub placed near the kitchen stove. And when nature called, there was the familiar path to the privy, sometimes through rain, snow, and bitter winter cold. Change came gradually to the valley’s growing industrial towns.