I have seen a square cistern made from stone in a state park managers house (all still extant) built in 1935 by the CCC. Of interest, the cistern is on the opposite corner from the kitchen and is not near the bath. One downspout fed directly into the cistern. The cistern was outside of the basement foundation but shared a wall. An iron pipe came through the wall and fed the water into a pressure tank, which was then piped through the house.
Two years ago we partially excavated a round cistern sitting next to the foundation at U. S. Grant's boyhood home (built 1824). We found a picture showing a led pipe coming out of the cistern and up the exterior wall into what was a ca1920 kitchen. The pipe was still evident inside the cistern.
Donald Linebaugh at the University of Kentucky was working on a paper detailing a machine that produced gas for lighting houses during the mid 19th century. The unit was often kept in a brick pit outside of the house if I remember correctly. I think he presented this paper at an SHA conference but I don't know if he published it.
I do agree that if it is a cistern it will most likely have an iron or lead pipe coming out of it at some point.
Neal Hitch
Ohio Historical Society
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 10:54 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Mysterious Pit
>
> Hello Tanya,
>
> I quite agree with others who have interpreted your feature as an in-ground
> cistern. Here in Canada such features are commonly found in the cellars of
> 19th c houses. This location afforded them greater protection from the
> Canadian winter as well as provided ready access to the contents for house
> occupants. Typically such cisterns were built into a corner or against a
> partition wall which simplified their construction. Brick or stone was
> commonly used in their construction; sometimes a lining or parging of
> whitewashed mortar was applied to the interior as a further sealant as
> well as provided a surface suitable to periodic cleaning. The cistern was
> filled with rain water conducted from the building roof to the cistern. A
> feature I have found consistent with cistern design, regardless of their
> form or even location, is the presence of inlet and overflow outlet
> openings. The overflow outlet, naturally enough, was positioned beneath the
> inlet. The overflow was then conducted to the exterior of the building
> without flooding the cellar; at least that was the idea.
>
> Peter Sattelberger
> Material Culture Researcher
> Parks Canada
> Ottawa
>
>
>
>
>
> Tanya *Zee*
> <chunsah_z@HOTMAI To: [log in to unmask]
> L.COM> cc:
> Sent by: Subject: Mysterious Pit
> HISTORICAL
> ARCHAEOLOGY
> <[log in to unmask]
> >
>
>
> 31/08/04 07:48 PM
> Please respond to
> HISTORICAL
> ARCHAEOLOGY
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
> I was told that this list was the perfect place to inquire about this. So,
> I
> hope everyone is willing to help solve a mystery!
>
> My name is Tanya Laird and I am an archaeology student in Texas. My class
> is
> working on a site just outside of Austin, on the Boggy Creek Farm. On this
> site is a house built in the 1840s. The house is on the original build
> site.
> Outside of the house, off the front porch, under a bedroom window,
> beginning
> approximately 1ft from the base of the house we have a mysterious pit.
>
> The pit is brick lined with a cap of cement around the perimeter. The brick
> is the same brick used in the foundation of the house. The dimensions are>
> roughly 3.5'x8'x6'. The six foot depth is the current depth, no further
> excavation has been done because of concern of the structual safety. But,
> our crew chief thinks we've found the bottom. The pit was filled with sand
> in the 1930's to create a winter vegetable garden. Before that it appears
> to
> have been used as a trash pit. However, the original use of this pit
> remains
> a mystery to us. It's closeness to the house is baffling. No ladders,
> planks, hinges or locks or evidence of stairs have currently been found.
> Just glass bottles from the early 20th century.
>
> Some students think it was a privvy, but it is so close to the house and
> other than being brick lined and having bottles in it does not seem to have
> any other signs of having been used as such (ie, no clay bowls, no lime,
> etc). It has also been suggested that it was a root cellar or storage pit,
> but it is on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen (though that
> may not ultimately matter) and there are no signs of stairs (though a
> ladder
> may have been used). A student hypothesized a cistern, but I thought these
> were round and above ground. This site is a class project, but most of us
> have experience with other site types (mesoamerican, agean, etc) so
> mid-nineteenth century American farmstead isn't really in our repretoire.
> We've had some outside archaeologists have a look at it, but they've got no
> clue either.
>
> Does this type of feature sound familiar to anyone? Or, could someone give
> me a list of what we should be looking for to prove or reject any of the
> hypotheses?
>
> I would be greatful for any information you have that might help us solve
> our mystery.
>
> Thank you for your time and consideration,
> Tanya Laird
>
>
> "All our science, our technology, our mathematics - nothing is unique about
> them. These things will be repeated by any sufficiently advanced
> civilization...But, there is only one golden death mask of Tutankhamen,
> only
> one Room of Lilies. It is through our art that we really live and breathe.
> If I could pick only one thing that could survive on this earth and speak
> for our species, it would be our art." -- an archaeologist
>
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