Waste disposal has always been a significant challenge for urban communities. Without effective waste disposal systems, cities quickly become centers of pollution and disease. Such problems grew many times worse over the course of the first half of the nineteenth century, as the population of Western cities exploded and industrial waste was added to the overall waste problem. These films provide a sense of the scale of the challenge in turn-of-the-century New York. As you watch them, ask yourself how the activities they depict might fit into a larger waste disposal plan. Where does all the garbage go?

New York City Dumping Wharf (1903)

Sorting Refuse at an Incinerating Plant (1903)

Source: Video courtesy of Library of Congress, Moving Image Section.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER