Somerville catch-basin covers never die, they just quietly sit there

By adamg on Sun, 04/22/2018 - 1:50pm

Old catch-basin cover in Somerville, from 1874

Somerville used to date-stamp its manhole covers, so that's how Chris Devers could tell how old this catch basin cover on Washington Street near McGrath Highway is.

Iron Covers, a Somerville resident who takes photos of such things, adds:

They started building the sewer system in somerville right after the civil war because of the population boom. The earliest dated cover I’ve found is 1874. I found one dated 1870 in Cambridge

Neighborhoods:

Somerville

Topics:

History

Free tagging:

manholes

Ad:

Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

FWIW

By BostonDog on Sun, 04/22/2018 - 3:12pm.

Uhub's new focus on subterranean coverings is a notable improvement to an already enjoyable site.

When everyone else writes the same Boston Uncovered stories, Uhub shows us the Boston area covers.

Finally, I know the answer to a UH puzzle

By anon on Sun, 04/22/2018 - 3:27pm.

I believe this is a cover for a catch basin. I estimate it was made circa 1874 AD.

Manhole Coverage

By SamWack on Mon, 04/23/2018 - 7:42am.

Is this all part of the “More Manholes, Fewer Massholes” UHub spring campaign?

Nice!!!

By Nauga Hyde on Mon, 04/23/2018 - 9:41am.

Hello All!!!
Adam,please make this a regular feature of your blog.We need more people aware of the history of the "infrastructure" of our city.
Oh,the date on that casting may only refer to the date that the mold was made,not the actual casting/inservice date.
Thanks and looking forward to seeing backwards in time!