The Plumbing Museum Watertown, Massachusetts
Where Toilets Get the Respect They Are Due
Let’s face it. Almost everybody has an interest in toilets. So when The Plumbing Museum moved from Worcester, Massachusetts in 2008, people missed it. Now the new Plumbing Museum, located in the more appropriately named Watertown, Massachusetts, offers a lively blend of early plumbing equipment, interspersed with modern fixtures and state-of-the-art plumbing techniques. Visitors—we’re guessing that many of them may be plumbers—can view bathtubs through the ages; antique water heaters; a Kohler electric sink circa 1928, with a push button start; and perhaps most interesting of all, a woman’s urinal.
Wait, there’s more: A hand-blown glass lavatory; a TOTO self-cleaning toilet; and another urinal, this one designed by Marcel Duchamp. There are antique commodes, claw-foot tubs, and plumbing items from the 1950s. Exhibits run the gamut from “The History of Plumbing,” complete with timeline, to Plumbing Systems (water mains and more). Bathtubs hang from the ceilings. There is an old-fashioned commode and ceramic glazed hopper bowls. And, it is safe to assume, Mens and Ladies Rooms as well.
The Facts: The Plumbing Museum is located at 80 Rosedale Road in Watertown, adjacent to the corporate headquarters of J.D. Cannistraro, LLC. Tours are available Monday through Thursday by advance appointment. Email info@theplumbingmuseum.org, or phone 617-926-2111 to arrange a tour.
