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the only automobile driver whose house backed up to the alley on this block and who would enter the alley from Caledonia Street to the north. The ash pit behind the house, right on the alley, is believed to be the last remaining beehive - shaped ash pit in the area. These were once a common site behind houses and were used for dumping coal ashes and for the burning of trash. They were located along the alleys in order to keep stray sparks away from homes and so that they could be emptied easily. (Men or teenage boys could make a little money by cleaning out ash pits with the use of a shovel and a wheelbarrow or truck, and typically the ashes were taken away and dumped down an old coal mine shaft.) The following is a recent photo of the ash pit, which is essentially a brick dome covered with concrete or cement plaster. Some metal wire is visible on the surface, suggesting that wire mesh might have been used to encase the brick dome before the cement plaster or concrete was added to the exterior. The date of this ash pit is not known for certain, but identical beehive -shaped ones can be seen next to houses in a Louisville photo from circa 1910. Louisville's other beehive -shaped ash pits were replaced over time by incinerators made out of concrete blocks set in a square or rectangle, and both became obsolete when people no longer produced coal ashes from burning coal in stoves (in the 1950s-1960s for the most part) and when people were required to stop burning trash (as of January 1, 1968). The Louisville Historical Museum is working with the DelPizzo family to document the ash pit and to explore options to move and preserve it. The preceding research is based on a review of relevant and available online County property records, census records, oral history interviews, Louisville directories, and Louisville Historical Museum maps, files, and obituary records. 9