Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “as dumb as a two-story outhouse.” Among the trees, in Cedar Lake, in central Michigan, is a tall historic two-story wooden outhouse. It is a replica of an historic outhouse that sat on the property but had collapsed a few years ago due to decay and neglect.
The original two-story privy and house were built by William Nelson, a wealthy lumber baron who had seven daughters. The girls lived upstairs and the lower part of the home served as Mr. Nelson’s office and a general store that was frequented by lumberjacks. The lumber baron wanted to keep his daughters separated from the men so he built the outhouse with a bridge (which collapsed in the 50s) to the second floor of the home.
The outhouse had four different size holes to match four different size derrieres. The holes on the top are off-set from the holes on the bottom. A wooden panel behind the bottom set of holes separates the waste from the occupants at the bottom, giving a whole new meaning to the term “poop chute”
It is funny to see the new outhouse standing with an upper door and floor but if you know the history of it, the unique privy makes sense.
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