VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4], 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 09:57:45 06/03/02 Mon
Author: gmike
Subject: Some locals still use outhouses

By HAROLD NEDD, The Virginian-Pilot © June 3, 2002

SUFFOLK -- Just across U.S. 17 from million-dollar homes in northern Suffolk, a reality unfolds that is extraordinary to most visitors: Some residents still use outhouses.

The outhouse is not unique to Suffolk. Although Norfolk and Virginia Beach officials dispute the accuracy of the count for their cities, census figures show that other cities in the region also have houses with ``incomplete plumbing.''

The census shows more than 400 outhouses in Virginia Beach and more than 500 in Norfolk.

``It doesn't surprise me that there are some houses in (Virginia Beach) without indoor plumbing, but I don't believe there are 433,'' said Andrew Friedman, director of housing and neighborhood preservation for Virginia Beach. ``I have a hard time believing that. We've been pro-active about eliminating the problem -- that's why I'm skeptical.''

Shurl Montgomery, an assistant city manager in Norfolk, said the 560 count for his city must be a mistake. ``If they said five, well I would say OK. But 560? That number is very hard to believe.''

The census refers to them as ``houses that lack complete plumbing.''

It's an odd but appropriate term to describe Suffolk's 207 households without plumbing -- the most per capita in South Hampton Roads. Despite the enormous effort local government officials and nonprofit groups are putting into eliminating the problem that has plagued Suffolk for decades, hundreds remain, according to data collected from the voluntary long census form.

``We have disabled, elderly residents who have been living without indoor plumbing all their lives,'' said Mary Hill, a neighborhood leader in Crittendenin northern Suffolk. Residents in the community have traditionally earned a living off the Nansemond River: fishing, crabbing and oystering.

``I've had families tell me about having to get up in the middle of the night, go out to the old pit privy in 20-degree weather, walk in and see a snake, raccoon or possum in there,'' said Tyrone E. Sessoms, program director for Southwestern Tidewater Opportunity Project, a nonprofit group working with the city to eliminate houses that lack indoor plumbing.

The census figures show that about one out of every 100 houses in Suffolk has no complete in-door plumbing. That number has dropped significantly from 10 years ago.

The census defines complete plumbing facility as: hot and cold piped water; a flush toilet; and bathtub or shower. One or two out of the three would put a house in the category of having incomplete plumbing.

Linda Bryant, a 44-year-old elementary-school cook, said she had cold water running through her house in Whaleyville. ``But I didn't have a bathroom,'' she said. ``We had to go outside and use an outhouse. If it snows or rains, we still had to go outside to use it. And if I wanted hot water to bathe with, I had to put the water in a pot on the stove and boil it.''

In the past five years, the Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project has helped modernize 11 houses that didn't have indoor plumbing.

Bryant and her brother, Steven Mills, now live in one of them. But they used an outhouse until two weeks ago.

``You didn't know what you would find when you went out there -- snakes, spiders, you name it,'' said Mills, 47.

In 1990, the census showed that about 1 out of every 25 homes in Suffolk lacked complete plumbing; In 1980, about one-third or 34 percent, of the houses in Suffolk fell into this category.

``We were the outhouse capital of South Hampton Roads at one time,'' said Andy Damiani, a former mayor. ``It was embarrassing. But we've poured a lot of money into fixing that problem.''

An estimated $5 million federal grant in the 1980s helped the city get started working on the citywide problem, Damiani said. The $11 million in the upcoming budget for sewer extensions will help sustain the effort as well as improve the public sewer system, said Albert S. Moor II, the city's public utilities director. On Peanut Lane in Holland Village, a rural section off U.S. 58 in southern Suffolk, several homes have outhouses. The neighborhood -- about 18 miles from downtown Suffolk -- has no city sewer and water system. City leaders don't want to extend sewer and water lines to the village for fear the utilities would attract more development than the local government can afford to serve.

In the meantime, the STOP group and local government officials have targeted eight to 10 houses in the Sandy Bottom and Hobson area off U.S. 17 in northern Suffolk to help renovate.

Said Sessoms: ``We would like to eliminate all owner-occupied dwellings that do not have indoor plumbing. . . . It's really hard to believe that people are living that way in this day and time.'' Reach Harold Nedd at hnedd@pilotonline.com or 222-5558.

http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw0603out.html

When you have to empty your crapper they do come in handy.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Post a message:
This forum requires an account to post.
[ Create Account ]
[ Login ]
[ Contact Forum Admin ]

Forum timezone: GMT-6
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.