These are two of the old boilers that are still left in the basements of two Village homes. In many of the homes, the boilers were removed when modern HVAC arrived and/or when basements were sealed off as extra storage space. 

Does your Village home have one still? We’d love to see your photos and hear stories of what you remember about this early form of heat in the home and how central air changed life in The Village. 

A brief history as found on a sustainable dwelling blog: 

Prior to 1885 the majority of homes in America were heated with wood burning brick fireplaces and derivatives of the cast iron Franklin Stove invented in 1742. 

By the end of the 19th century the invention of low cost cast iron radiators would bring central heating to America’s homes with a coal fired boiler in the basement delivering hot water or steam to radiators in every room.