Lower East Side in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
No Gold? No Dinosaurs? No Long Forgotten Tomb?
Photographed By Steve Masler, November 9, 2019
1. No Gold? No Dinosaurs? No Long Forgotten Tomb? Marker
No Gold? No Dinosaurs? No Long-Forgotten Tombs?
Instead, our backyard archaeological dig found 97 Orchard Street's original toilet: an outdoor privy with multiple seats. Rather than a privy pit, this backyard outhouse had an underground 'vault' that drained into the public sewer under Orchard Street. It could be flushed occasionally with rainwater, or perhaps with water from a nearby spigot.
Although exceeding City requirements at first, this shared privy remained the only sanitation for the building's twenty apartments from 1864 to 1905, when two toilets were installed in the hallway of each floor. Joan H. Geismar, Ph.D., urban archaeologist
Between 1864 and 1935, 97 Orchard Street housed nearly 7,000 people, mainly immigrants and their descendants, and it has been home to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum since 1988.
You're always walking in somebody's footsteps. Who will walk in yours?
Erected by City Lore and The Municipal Art Society.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Architecture. A significant historical year for this entry is 1864.
Location. 40° 43.116′ N, 73° 59.425′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It is in the Lower
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Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. 97 Orchard Street (within shouting distance of this marker); Orchard Street (within shouting distance of this marker); Kehila Kedosha Janina (within shouting distance of this marker); B’nai B’rith (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); University Settlement House (about 800 feet away); M'Finda Kalunga Garden (approx. 0.2 miles away); M'Finda Kalunga Community Garden (approx. 0.2 miles away); Ira Gershwin (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Manhattan.
Photographed By Steve Masler, November 9, 2019
2. No Gold? No Dinosaurs? No Long Forgotten Tomb? Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 23, 2019, by Steve Masler of Memphis, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 129 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 23, 2019, by Steve Masler of Memphis, Tennessee. • Michael Herrick was the editor who published this page.
