A Little Challenge In Livingston: Can You Find The Oldest Manhole Cover?

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Sometimes if you look in an unusual place, you find a bit of history no one else has noticed in a long time. While it's sometimes just under your nose, other times, it's under your feet.

On a walk through Livingston recently, we saw years embossed on Livingston manhole covers going back 60 to 80 years (see photos below). But can you find some older than that?

One New York City-area website posted photos of 10 unique manhole covers in Manhattan, with one from right after the Civil War. New Jersey has a number of unique covers too.

But beware — a 2015 Patch story from Essex County highlighted how dangerous and frequent manhole explosions could be, including several in Montclair. In 2016, video was posted of a manhole cover that flipped in South Orange.

Below are two of the oldest we saw in Livingston, from 1963 and 194o. But if you can find older or unique examples, email us a photo! Send it by clicking here.

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