From Early Stories to Today · Drawing 07
Water from the well
Long ago
Before running water, people had to fetch water. At Maison Saint-Gabriel, a well helped fill buckets for the house.
Look together
Can you find the bucket and the rope?
An idea to try
With an empty bucket or basket, act out a trip from an imaginary well to a house. Name uses of water that might require several trips.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
At Maison Saint-Gabriel, the well has stood in the same location since the 1660s. The museum says it remained in use into the 1940s, even after running water reached the farm in 1868. This example shows how older and newer ways of doing things can exist together for a long time.
The bucket and rope help children picture the work of bringing water home. Compare that journey with the familiar action of turning on a tap, without suggesting that all homes changed at the same time. The well in the drawing is generic. The historical dates belong to the documented site, not to the invention of wells.
Sources and context
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. Source titles appear in their original language; some linked pages are in French.
Source review: 2026-09-12. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.