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PAST –
PRESENT – FUTURE
The building that is now home to The Plumbing Museum was once the property of brothers Abraham and Edward Howard who
supplied their thriving Watertown, Massachusetts ice business with ice, wood and coal from their Charles River storage yard
and ice house. The brothers’ father, skilled merchant and Civil War veteran Frederick Howard, started in the ice trade
in 1842. Following in their father’s footsteps, the brothers grew the business and it became the Metropolitan Ice Company
around 1925. With progress in home heating and refrigeration the ice trade became obsolete. The property surrounding the ice
house was sold, and industrial growth changed the landscape.
In 1984, J.C. Cannistraro, Inc., under the direction of John Cannistraro, Sr., purchased the ice house from the Jac-Pac Company, a frozen meat distributor, and relocated his company from a small garage on Pleasant Street in Watertown. During the next twenty years, numerous additions and developments were made resulting in the large complex that is now the J.C. Cannistraro, LLC corporate offices and prefabrication facility.
In 2007 J.C. Cannistraro was presented with a unique opportunity. Through the company’s association with the Plumbing Heating and Cooling Contractors (PHCC) of Greater Boston, word had traveled that Russell and Bettejane Manoog, curators of the American Sanitary & Plumbing Museum in Worcester, were looking for someone to continue operation of the museum after their retirement.
The Manoog family, just like the Cannistraros and Howards, kept their work in the family. Mr. Manoog’s father, Charles, began collecting antique commodes, claw-foot tubs, ornate sinks and other plumbing items beginning in the 1950s. A museum for these items was established by son Russell in 1979. In its Worcester location, the American Sanitary Plumbing Museum had hosted curious visitors from all over the world. The Manoogs wanted a family organization that would continue the stewardship of the museum.
The vision and design of J.C. Cannistraro, combined with the operational help of the PHCC of Greater Boston, finally brought this remarkable Plumbing Museum to the historic city of Watertown. The legacy of this collection can only be strengthened by the heritage of its new location.
In 1984, J.C. Cannistraro, Inc., under the direction of John Cannistraro, Sr., purchased the ice house from the Jac-Pac Company, a frozen meat distributor, and relocated his company from a small garage on Pleasant Street in Watertown. During the next twenty years, numerous additions and developments were made resulting in the large complex that is now the J.C. Cannistraro, LLC corporate offices and prefabrication facility.
In 2007 J.C. Cannistraro was presented with a unique opportunity. Through the company’s association with the Plumbing Heating and Cooling Contractors (PHCC) of Greater Boston, word had traveled that Russell and Bettejane Manoog, curators of the American Sanitary & Plumbing Museum in Worcester, were looking for someone to continue operation of the museum after their retirement.
The Manoog family, just like the Cannistraros and Howards, kept their work in the family. Mr. Manoog’s father, Charles, began collecting antique commodes, claw-foot tubs, ornate sinks and other plumbing items beginning in the 1950s. A museum for these items was established by son Russell in 1979. In its Worcester location, the American Sanitary Plumbing Museum had hosted curious visitors from all over the world. The Manoogs wanted a family organization that would continue the stewardship of the museum.
The vision and design of J.C. Cannistraro, combined with the operational help of the PHCC of Greater Boston, finally brought this remarkable Plumbing Museum to the historic city of Watertown. The legacy of this collection can only be strengthened by the heritage of its new location.