There are three historic privies on the Museum campus, one each behind the Webb, Deane, and Stevens Houses.  The Webb House privy is believed to be original to the Webb House but not necessarily on its original site. The Deane House privy was moved from the Congregational Church property in Wethersfield in 1967 to make way for a new church parking lot. The Stevens House privy was donated by the Wethersfield Historical Society and moved by the Society from behind the Old Academy building to behind the Stevens House in 1967. It was originally located on the site of the home of Reverend Henry Smith, Rector of the Trinity Episcopal Church on Main Street in Wethersfield. All three privies were extensively restored in 2015.   

Some privies were considered portable, moved periodically to a new location after the waste pit was full. Others, such as elaborate examples found at Mount Vernon, had removable boxes for waste; still others had clean-out ports in a permanent foundation. The Webb House privy, seated on a brownstone foundation, was determined to have this feature when it was restored.   

Some privies incorporated more than one seat. All the examples at the Museum have multiple, graduated seats – some adult size, others child size. While this arrangement did not necessarily suggest multiple users at the same time, it is possible that mothers might have accompanied young children. Chamber pots were likely available in many dwellings, avoiding the need to visit a privy in the middle of the night. Chamber pots would have been emptied into the privy in the morning.  

Privies were also used as dumping spots for trash, creating artifact-rich middens. At least one site excavated by archaeologists behind the Webb House in 2018 is believed to have been the location of a privy.  

With the advent of indoor plumbing in the 19th century, these structures were either abandoned, razed, or converted to other uses, such as tool sheds or, in the case of the privy behind the Deane house, a children’s playhouse.