Back in the day, the homes of the South End and Back Bay were heated by coal - delivered through round chutes in the sidewalk outside their front doors. As coal was replaced by other fuel sources, homeowners covered over the chutes or welded simple steel covers in place. But a few of the original chute covers remain, such as this one outside a residence on East Concord Street. The glass prisms were designed to shine sunlight down below, to provide some light in otherwise dark basements before electricity and to let homeowners see how much coal they had left.
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That's beautiful! n/t
By ECG (nli)
Thu, 07/25/2019 - 11:03am
n/t
The coal man, mostly
By anon
Thu, 07/25/2019 - 11:21am
The coal man, mostly Metropolitan Coal , used to fill hampers with coal and drag them to the coal bin opening on some houses, usually spaced enough distance to allow such activity. Then you had ash barrels , and even ashes to cover the slippery ice. One size fit all, As you moved up the food chain you got hot water and maybe later a television, Those were the days!
reminds me of:https://www
By schneidz
Thu, 07/25/2019 - 11:50am
reminds me of:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/09/29/drain...
As inspector Magoo would say
By MisterMagooForYoo
Thu, 07/25/2019 - 12:22pm
Wowzers. Magoo.
Safety feature
By anon
Thu, 07/25/2019 - 12:51pm
Before electricity lighting a dark basement could mean using a match or candle or other open flame. Coal dust can be explosive - a coal bin's worth of dust can have enough energy to level a building. So the glass inserts were for more than just convenience.
Very interesting.
By anon
Thu, 07/25/2019 - 1:07pm
Cool. I thought coal was only delivered by those chutes in the wall, some of which can still be seen in the Back Bay.
Not only the Back Bay
By anon
Thu, 07/25/2019 - 4:42pm
or the South End. These are all over South Boston. My millennial neighbor thought that’s how they delivered the water! She’s working on her Master’s degree.
Wow, she must be an idiot for
By TypicalMillenial
Fri, 07/26/2019 - 8:57am
Wow, she must be an idiot for being born so recently.
Art!
By anon
Thu, 07/25/2019 - 11:02pm
Definitely Art!
instagram
By anon
Fri, 07/26/2019 - 7:44pm
I believe he's @ironcovers on instagram: https://instagram.com/ironcovers
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