WPA Outhouses: Humble But Historic

It might seem strange to write a book about outhouses -- those rustic shacks that our forebears used instead of the indoor porcelain plumbing we're used to -- but there is a lot of history in those little wooden buildings!  During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) were created to provide jobs for out-of-work citizens, and one of those unglamorous jobs was building outhouses.  The Indiana Community Sanitation Program reported in January, 1943 that 125,791 “Sanitary Privies” had been built since the program began in December, 1933, providing more than $4 million dollars in WPA wages to otherwise-unemployed workers during the 1930s.

A few of these WPA constructions still remain standing in Franklin Township.  Our latest publication, Humble but Historic, The Surviving WPA Outhouses of Franklin Township, Marion County, Indiana, includes a brief history and photograph of each of the 10 remaining outhouse buildings, as well as a copy of the “Indiana Community Sanitation Program Regulation Manual, Sponsored By United States Public Health Service, Indiana Division of Public Health Works Progress Administration,” which directed the workers in building the structures and a copy of the “Maintenance Rules” to be tacked to the wall of each finished outhouse. (One of the township’s outhouses still has these rules fastened to the wall!)

The stapled book was designed and printed by Faulkenberg Printing in Indianapolis. The Society has priced it at $7.00.  You can purchase a copy in person at the Meeting House during Open Hours, or order one by mail via our website.