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Domestic Cisterns In Charleston, South Carolina: Public Health And Private Water In An Antebellum City, Brittany Mckee

All Theses

This study is the first comprehensive analysis of domestic cisterns in the antebellum United States. Cisterns, traditionally defined as catchment or storage facilities for rainwater collected by means of a drainage system, became a common domestic utility in Charleston, South Carolina during the nineteenth century. The earliest cisterns on the peninsula were constructed in the city's more affluent properties. By 1870 they were a household feature in all areas of the city. Two primary factors motivated Charlestonians to install domestic water collection systems. First, the city urbanized with little to no sanitation policy. As a result the city experienced frequent …