Water, Water: Wooden Water Tank. Calhoun County, Texas, circa 1910.

Emma Haterius Skogberg and Amy Paulson wash clothes. Olivia Colony, Texas. Early 1900s

Olivia Colony was almost surrounded by water.  Unfortunately it was the salt water of Kellers, Matagorda and Carancahua Bays along the coast of Texas; good for the extensive oyster harvest, but not so good for  the daily needs of life - like drinking water and clothes washing.

This picture shows one of the solutions - a well built wooden water tank attached to the house roof with extensive guttering.  This solution will please my readers who are interested in "storage and conservation".

This picture also suggests that it was not just "troublesome access to water" that made clothes washing hard work. I'm pretty sure that the "washing lady" on the left is Emma Haterius Skogberg, but I've got to check out that speculation a bit more - so I'll wait a bit to tell you all about her.  The "wash lady" on the right is our Amy Paulson who must be visiting friends and family down in Olivia and taking a break from her life up in Davenport, Iowa.

Identifiers
Negative: Paulson244
Place: Olivia Colony, Calhoun County, Texas
Date: early 1900s
People pictured:
Emma Haterius Skogberg (16 Nov 1879 - 21 Feb 1939)
Amy Justina Paulson (10 Dec 1881 - 18 Oct 1918)