Pipe is a common product. Here in Calhoun County big industries are huge users of pipe. There are multitudes of pipe materials; there is clay pipe, plastic pipe; steel pipe and too many more to go on naming. Many of us make or made our living from some form of pipe.

Pipe has been used for centuries. The Romans made pipe, they welded pipe. It was made out of lead. It was tear drop shape because they would fold a sheet of lead around something round. Then the two edges were fused together. They used the lead pipe for water. Some say that’s why there were a lot of crazy Romans.

Heavens, they even had a Water Utility in Rome back over 2000 years ago. I have no record of how they send the bills, or for that matter paid them. Adding and multiplying in X’s an V’s must have been tough. They had a commissioner to collect the bills.. Those Romans would have made good Texans.

Here in Calhoun County if you go to the Museum you can find a piece of Pipe made from Cypress wood. It looks a little like a barrel with straight sides. That pipe is a little over a century old. It was put in the ground during the transition from Alligator Head to Port O’Connor. As near as can be told that was around 1910.

It seems the Calhoun County Cattle Company who were the guys that started Port O’Connor figured the folks they were trying to attract would need to have water delivered to the house so they put in those Cypress water mains. There is no record of tooth picks coming out of the faucet that has been found.

However, in the eighties when the highway department was doing some work they found some of that cypress water main. It was donated to the Calhoun County Museum. We thank them.

But the worry was what would happen to the wood that had been buried for years when exposed to the air. Union Carbide had a solution how to preserve the stuff. It was called Carbowax PEG 1000. The important thing is it worked.

That piece is still sitting over in a corner in the museum. It looks as good as new, well maybe the cypress wood is a little darker than new but it has lasted in the air for the twenty some years since it was pulled out of the dirt. That is one way to preserve History.

It lasted a lot longer while it was in the dirt. I guess a lot of things spend a long time in the dirt. But that’s another story. Go to the Museum and see the collections as well as that pipe. Every time I am there I slip over and take a peek at the pipe. Working with pipe was a pretty good thing for me and I enjoy its long history. That is another thing we can thank the Romans for.