Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Craig Swain
Taken: August 2, 2011
Caption: La Necesaria
Additional Description: Interpretive sign in the Necessary offers a depiction of the latrine and reads, The Spanish Colonial Military Restroom of the 18th Century. The Necessary room had a tide-operated flushing system. At high tide the waste pipe would be flushed out into the bay. This controlled odors and disease within the fort. The latrine top was made of two wooden covers and equipped with iron handles. This facilitated the servicing and cleaning of the latrine box. A barrel of water and a bucket was kept in the Necessary Room. After each use water was poured into the latrine to flush the waste between high tides.
Submitted: August 26, 2011, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.
Database Locator Identification Number: p169424
File Size: 2.286 Megabytes

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