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Sewage Disposal Plant Photograph Collection

 Collection — Box: 1
Identifier:  P028

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of eighty-four 8x10 images that detail the construction of the District’s Sewage Disposal Plant between 1903 and 1906. The plant was located at the foot of New Jersey Avenue near the corner of 2nd and N Streets in Southeast D.C. The plant pumps collect sanitary sewage and some stormwater from the city’s sewer system to the Potomac River discharge point at Blue Plains, the southernmost point of the District.

Dates

  • Creation: 1903-1906

Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions on viewing the prints from this collection. There are no restrictions on reproduction as all photographs are in the public domain. Reproductions should appear with the proper attribution indicating that the photograph is housed in the Sewage Disposal Plant Photograph Collection and indicate that they appear “courtesy of the DC Public Library, Special Collections.”

Extent

1 Boxes

84 Photographic Prints

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Processed without series.

Custodial History

Images were donated to the Library on March 2, 1956. However, there is neither a deed of gift nor any record in the Washingtoniana Day Books from that period. Documents with the collection credit the gift to Ambrose B. Stannard and Horace M. Woodward, but it is unclear which estate donated the photographs. Stannard was the architect who designed and built the facility and Woodward, was a District employee for over forty years. A note on the accession record indicates that the images came from the Woodward estate, but no other evidence can be found to support this statement.

Processing Information

Images appear to have been a part of a photo album, however at some point the album was dismantled and each page was placed in an individual acid free folder. Each page, with an image on either side, was placed in a protective sleeve and returned to the folder, housed in an archival box and then deposited in the Library for long-term storage.

Title
Sewage Disposal Plant Photograph Collection
Subtitle
An guide of Sewage Disposal Plant Photograph Collection at the DC Public Library
Author
Mark S. Greek
Date
09/2006
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the The People's Archive, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library Repository

Contact:
901 G Street NW
4th Floor East
Washington DC 20001
(202)727-1213