Boyhood Home Outhouse

The outhouse doesn't look like much, but it was a two-holer.

NPS Photo / Jack Burton

Outhouses (or privies) were common in rural communities that did not have the benefit of indoor plumbing. Johnson City residents, as well as the few businesses in town, all relied on outhouses well into the 1930s. The Johnson family renovated their house in 1934, and at that point, it saw the addition of interior plumbing and a toilet.