whatilearned
Read more: https://www.today.com/home/what-heck-pittsburgh-potty-why-it-your-basement-t117879
TIL about “Pittsburgh toilets,” common fixtures in pre-WWII houses built in Pittsburgh, PA and surrounding region. It consists of an ordinary flush toilet installed in the basement, with no surrounding walls to in order to prevent sewage backups from occurring on the main floor of the house.
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“Pre-WWII”. My 1960 build Pittsburgh house has something to say…
Had one in the house I grew up in. South hills Pittsburgh.
also a changing / wash room down stairs for any of the coal miners so as not to dirty the rest of the house when they came home
Reminds me of random toilets and weird fixtures you’d see in that old blog [“Lovely Listing”](http://lovelylisting.blogspot.com/). I can’t believe it’s been 13 years since that blog was active… that doesn’t seem right, there must have been a newer version somewhere.
Despite having moved around the US a bit, I’ve spent most of my life in South Florida. And so I’ve never actually been in a basement.
However this *is* Florida, so the idea of someone pooping in plain view isn’t terribly shocking.
We had one in the house I grew up in in Detroit. Later one someone built a wood wall with wooden door around it. The house was built in 1921.
Pittsburgh-area resident. Best one I’ve seen was in a recent listing where the “Pittsburgh Potty” was located at the very top of the second-floor staircase. Walk up the steps and bam, wide-open shitter.
Current WV resident. My old house had a Pittsburgh Potty, plus a shower head in the basement for scrubbing off coal dust after working in the mines.