September 6, 2001

Plains Folk: WPA Privy in Need of Repair

Tom Isern, Professor of History
North Dakota State University

"It’s me, the WPA Outhouse Spokesperson for North Dakota," read the message from Lesa Weinrich-Wilm of rural Hankinson (whom I knew from her position in the Richland County Extension office). "My beloved outhouse is in need of repair as a tree fell on it and caved in the roof. My husband has assured me that this will not be a problem to fix with a little tin. I, however, asked him if we could fix it to historical quality standards."

Do I look like a marriage counselor? That would be a joke, and so I assume Lesa wrote me because of my evident interest in such high architectural features as chicken houses, cattle guards, creep feeders, and, she presumed, historic privies. She was right.

You might think that I might think that Lesa was pulling my leg about this WPA outhouse business, but I knew her story was credible right away. WPA stands for Works Progress Administration, the agency created by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935 to give the unemployed jobs on public works. WPA workers built dams and courthouses and roads and armories, sure, but they also canned vegetables and hooked rugs, so why couldn’t they have constructed privies?

Moreover, as Lesa described her outhouse, it sounded just like others I had seen in the field, specifically in Bowman County, North Dakota–little buildings I always suspected had been built under some sort of a program, and also suspected were New Deal creations, but hadn’t been sure about. Now I’m sure. Lesa says that until the concrete in front of her outhouse was broken up for a rural water line, it bore the legend, "WPA."

Lesa and Myron have lived on the place east of Hankinson for seven years. One of the neighbors says there must be ghosts there, but I don’t think ghosts could compete with Lesa’s menagerie; the goat probably ate them. When the WPA privy would have been built, in the late 1930s, this was the Harry Gustman farm.

When I examined Lesa’s privy, its features exactly matched the privy I photographed years ago at Langberg School, southern Bowman County, and others in that county. I’m wondering if these things are strewn all over the country.

It’s a small privy, 4 feet by 5, with a simple shed roof on 2x4 studs sloping to the back, originally covered with wood shakes. It sits on a pre-formed, poured concrete foundation. The door is on the left side of the front and swings right on a pair of barn hinges. It’s a tight little building, with 1x6 boxing on the inside, lap wood siding on the outside. To the right of the door is a paned window, set high to admit light but not sight.

The genius of the building–I mean, some WPA architect did right by the public on this deal–is the scheme for ventilation. This includes long vents of 1x8 stock at the top of each side wall, just under the roof, vents that drop open on hinges.

Then there is the vent system tied directly to the pit. Peering inside, you see that the commode is of poured concrete with a wood top. Going down into the pit behind the commode is a flue squared of inch lumber. This flue ends in a second, horizontal flue that runs from the right wall to the rear wall. The screened openings where this horizontal flue comes through the walls admit a breeze that draws air, and thus stench, up from the pit and out.

Lesa gave me directions to another farmstead with a WPA privy north of Lidgerwood. Arriving there at dusk, I found this outhouse to be exactly like Lesa’s.

So, Myron, I’m on Lesa’s side. I think you ought to fix the roof, preferably with some wood shingles. No, I don’t think any grants are available. This is something to do for public acclaim, or perhaps just for peace in the house.

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Source: Tom Isern, (701) 799-2941, tom@plainsfolk.com 
Editor: Gary Moran, (701) 231-7865, gmoran@ndsuext.nodak.edu 

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