Sewers in the City: A Case Study of Individual-Level Mortality and Public Health Initiatives in Northampton, Massachusetts at the Turn of the Century

Douglas L. Anderton, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Susan I. Hautaniemi, University of Michigan
Tyler W. Hautaniemi, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Alan C. Swedlund, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Research of the Connecticut Valley Historical Demography Project has suggested that the New England mortality plateau was associated with stressful conditions in industrializing and rapidly growing mill towns, and that mortality decline did not take hold until after both growth slowed and public health measures were instituted. This paper presents a geographic, individual-level, analysis of the cause-specific mortality effects of the sewer systems which were implemented in Northampton over the decades of the plateau and initial mortality decline. Linked census and death data provide information on individual-level correlates of mortality. Geocoding individuals and the expanding sewers in Northampton between 1880 and 1910 allows us to analyze the ecological mortality effects of these initial public health infrastructures. This research adds to a growing body of research on early public health measures through offering unique insights from emerging mid-sized industrializing communities struggling with the strains of rapid population growth.