(Al Benson photo)

Aurora's outhouse excavator Mike Renaud (above) displays a sword he found in a west Aurora privy-—an outdoor toilet—during "Privy to the Past," a presentation last Sunday.

Renaud chronicled outhouse excavations by three generations of his family at the Aurora Historical Society's Pierce Art & History Center.  Below, John Jaros, Aurora Historical Society executive director, stands by an outhouse replica. At bottom, Renaud displays beer bottles he found in a west Aurora privy. (Al Benson photos)