What’s Hiding in Backyards?

Unearthing New England’s Forgotten Underground Garbage Cans

A few weeks ago, a friend called me over to check out something weird in their backyard. Tucked under some leaves and surrounded by dried grass was a rusted metal hatch. It looked solid—heavy-duty—and was stamped with “Somerville, Mass.” We couldn’t figure out what it was. A water tank? An old utility vault? After some digging (both literal and on Google), the mystery was solved: it was an underground garbage can. These underground garbage cans were quite the find and got us really curious about their history.

If you’ve never seen one before, you’re not alone. These buried trash cans were once a common sight in New England neighborhoods, but they’ve become a bit of a forgotten relic. For decades, they were a practical solution to an everyday problem—one that now feels like a quaint piece of history.

Life Before Curbside Pickup

Rewind to the mid-20th century, when suburban New England homes relied on metal trash cans instead of the big plastic bins we use today. Instead, trash went into metal cans, which had their own set of issues.
Bad weather knocked them over, rust ate away at them, and raccoons and other critters turned them into open buffets.

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