We’ve got some tried and true traditions here in Pennsylvania – from shopping at mud sales and celebrating special events at fire halls to cookie tables at wedding receptions and eating shoofly pie. And while it’s not exactly a tradition, there’s a feature that you’ll find in some homes in Pennsylvania, and more specifically in the Pittsburgh area. It’s the Pittsburgh toilet.

Chances are if you grew up in the Pittsburgh area or even visited one of its homes growing up that you noticed a toilet – not a full bathroom, but a toilet - in the basement. You might even find one in homes in other parts of the state.
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
Long before finished basements with enclosed bathrooms, basements were often utility spaces, where homeowners stored belongings and housed the washer and dryer (once they were invented).
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
If you go into a pre-World War II home in Pittsburgh that hasn’t been renovated, you might just discover the famous Pittsburgh toilet. It’s just a toilet, sometimes sitting in the middle of the room and not separated by walls.
Flickr/Chris Winters

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While it might seem a bit odd in the 21st century, the toilet in the basement actually served quite an important function back in the early half of the 20th century - if you believe one theory.
Flickr/Jason Pratt
Some believe that the toilet in the basement was designed for coal miners and steel workers who, after returning home at the end of a long day, would enter the home through the basement, change, clean up, and then go into the main living space. A toilet, then, seemed natural.
Photogrammar/Arthur Rothstein
However, no one really knows for sure the "why" behind the Pittsburgh toilet, although there is another theory. Some assert that the toilet wasn’t designed to be used; rather, it served as a sewage pipe.
Photogrammar/Jack Delano
Whatever the true origin of the Pittsburgh toilet, you’ll still find it in some of the pre-World War II homes that dot the Pittsburgh landscape and likely in other areas of Pennsylvania, too.
Photogrammar/John Vachon

Have you heard of the Pittsburgh toilet? Do you have one in your home? Let us know in the comments! Up for a fun, family-friendly outing? Explore a safari park before digging into a delicious meal at a charming Pennsylvania diner.

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