And the West is History: Animas City sewer installation – 1939

Since its inception in 1876, Animas City had no sewers and a very rudimentary water system. Residents used outhouses or discharged sewage into cesspools that often drained indirectly into the Animas River. That changed in 1939, when, with $15,000 in city bonds and a $36,738 grant from the Works Progress Administration, the city installed a sewer system throughout the town. The project employed 152 men and was completed in approximately five months. Here, workers use a hoist to remove a large rock from an excavated trench. The bridge at 32nd Street can be seen just beyond the man at the right. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum (Catalog Number: 15.28.4 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)