Looking at a sewer hole cover in Peoria, Arizona


This morning as I was riding around Peoria, a suburb of Phoenix, which I do every morning, I stopped to take a photo of a sewer hole cover. I had seen these a lot, but mostly in the middle of busy streets, so when I saw this one on a quiet residential street, I stopped to take a photograph of it.

No, I have no particular interest, or expertise, in sewage. But I am a history adventurer, and sewers are just one of the many things that most people pay no attention to, like electricity, that are so reliable that it's only when they don't work that we even think about them. I'm also a graphic designer, and it pleases me to see such an elegant design, showing civic pride in something so utilitarian. The more I look at it, the more I think that I'd like to have it hanging in my garage - except of course that it says "sewer".

Before I go any further, I want to clarify the date, which is 1954. Of course Peoria has been there since the Arizona Canal was completed in 1885, but it wasn't made official until 1954. You know, paperwork.

After I took the photo this morning and continued pedaling, I wondered what people might have thought if they saw me do it. Most photos are taken as criticism, to prove something wrong, and I would imagine a logical conclusion was that I was going to file a complaint, or something.

But I have no complaints. This design is a thing of beauty, and the engineering that it represents is beautiful, too. No, I have no desire to go down into the sewer for a closer look, thank you, I'll leave that to the experts, and Mike Rowe.

Thank you for looking at a sewer hole cover in Peoria with me!
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