No potty talk: Underground restrooms made York comfortable for decades

OK, we had to give you an updated view, a photo from within the past couple of year s when water from the above-ground garden on the southeast angle of the square seeped down and caused this damage.

This was the view of the steps leading to the men's side of the underground comfort station under York's Continental Square several years ago, but they have since been cleaned up. Here's some history, according to Liz Williams. The cry for a public comfort station came as early as 1897, with the closing of saloons on Sunday making the question of such comfort facilities an important issue in the city.

It wasn't just Prohibition that spawned the need. Only 760 of York County's farms had a bathroom by 1926. Where could rural families - as well as many in the city -go to shower, bath and otherwise scrub up?

The comfort station wasn't just a venue to nip and tuck. Workers moving through the square accessed it, too. The Manufacturers' Association made this argument in 1926 about these workers: "In many cases, ... persons are compelled to stand in the open in all kinds of weather should they be so unfortunate as to miss their (trolley) car." As this photo shows, the men's side offered barbering services. In short, you could go in there looking and feeling grubby and come out looking like a new man.

So the comfort station went in. And it was used. Liz Williams writes that in 1934 more than 1 million trips were made, more than 86,000 people had dropped nickels into coin locks on the stalls, almost 17,000 quarters had been dropped into coin locks on shower room doors and about 170,000 pennies were fed into the weighing scales. Here, a city employee in recent years shows a tunnel connecting the men's and women's sides of the comfort station.

We'll back up several decades in our story about the comfort station and help locate it. You're seeing the southeast corner of the square circa 1860. See that tree about in the center? That locates where the comfort stations went in about 70 years later. The market sheds seen here have a story of their own. One of the sheds housed an underground lockup. It is said prisoners had to be moved out of there in 1887 when the sheds were pulled down in the middle of the night. But that's another story in the colorful history of Continental Square.

Consultant C.S. Davidson drew this map of the square in 1933, four years after the comfort station started operating. The southeast angle of the square is seen at lower right of the round square.

Newswanger's shoe store was a popular stop in its day. The building will also help folks locate the comfort station, located outside its side door. Today, Downtown Inc. operates from the building.

Now back to today and a ground level view of the railings marking the comfort station's steps. That memorial, left center, serves two functions: It's a marker constructed for the 250th anniversary of the founding of York in 1991. And it serves as an air vent for the comfort station below.

When you think about it, an air vent for an underground facility such as this would be a must. Where would the steam go from those showers, bathtubs and sinks below?

Liz Williams gives intriguing details about the comfort station. On the women's side, bronze was used to frame a large full-length mirror. And one of the stalls had a small child-sized toilet. That stall cost 10 cents to use and the others 5 cents for access. You could say that this really was a pay-to-go system.

Over on the men's side, showers cost 25 cents and towels and soap 25 cents. "The showers in the men's side got used a great deal more over the years than the one on the women's side," Williams wrote.

Attendants were on hand on each side. Users could check packages, shaving kits or other miscellaneous items with the attendants.

One difference between the men's and women's sides. The women had two fountains to drink from; the guys a single fountain. Here is the entrance to the women's room today.

Williams writes that from 1961 to 1978, the comfort station was a money loser for the city. In many ways its fortunes reflected those of York, which was challenged by suburban retail competition and population decline. "In 1978, the comfort station started to close at 6 p.m. and then closed completely because of an austerity drive by the city," Williams wrote.

So the comfort station became part of York's history, a footnote to big moments such as Continental Congress' visit to Centre Square, as it was then known. Oh yes, the station saw use after 1978. The city, under Mayor Charlie Robertson, refurbished the station in the 1990s. In 1996, the city offered free rent for any barber who would cut hair under the square. Robertson opened the station in 1997 during the summer. Before that, Robertson had it open for special events.

When Liz Williams was writing in 2004, the station was still open. But it later closed and is not in use today. This front page reminds you how integral the comfort station was to the public. As the story goes, people flocked to Continental Square on V-J Day 1945. The bars closed (Prohibition had been repealed) and so did the comfort stations. And the square was packed with celebrators.

As we said, the square was packed and there were no bathrooms anywhere. The Gazette reported the next day that thousands were "discommoded." Seriously. That's what was reported about this serious matter.

The comfort station occasionally makes the news. Here's the base of the garden - the one that a couple of years ago allowed water to seep through into the comfort station. At least it marks the spot of the station below.

Liz Williams sought and found meaning in the restrooms. "First, the comfort station represents the Progressive era and the City Beautiful Movement, the ideologies of which results in Yorkers, like Americans everywhere, joining civic groups to strengthen their voice in local affairs and improve the urban environment." She concluded that there are lessons today in a community working together to meet a goal, as did citizens in the 1920s.

Will the Comfort Station figure into the city's Continental Square renovation plans? Or will it be overlooked, out of sight, buried under the square? A possible idea for its future came in 1984. That's when the Redevelopment Authority listed the comfort station for sale. No one bought it, Liz Williams wrote. Today, considering the city's rebirth, perhaps someone would see potential down there. Williams wrote in 1984 that the comfort station is most likely the only example of such structures built in Pennsylvania that remains intact. So what was built out of necessity in 1929 could become a historic attraction today.