How Boston in 1704 Paved the Way for Urban Drainage in Early America

Did you know that most of the early American sewers were built with private capital?

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It wasn't until 1704 that Bostonian Francis Thrasher was given permission by the city government to construct a sewer which was "not only benefit by freeing the street from the usual annoyance... but a more particular benefit to ye neighborhood as a common shore [sewer]." All city residents were ordered to connect their drains to the public sewer. 😱😱😱

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By the mid-eighteenth century, few cities of the world were drained as well as Boston.  🙌 🚀  

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It took other American cities decades to follow Boston's advanced and revolutionary approach.