Removing an old, large claw foot tub [View all]

We own a house built in 1909, and it has a very large, now-kinda-scuffed-up, clawfoot tub in the second floor bathroom. It's functional, and we had a shower-and-curtain-ring attachment installed a few years ago.

But as my wife and I are getting older, we'd like to have a walk-in shower so that it's not quite as perilous bathing as needing to step over the tall side of the tub. And one of the things we'd need to do if we had a shower installed is figure out how to remove the tub.

When I bought the house, I half-jokingly promised the former owner the tub back if we ever got rid of it (since we were already thinking about converting it to a shower), but as I look at the size of the tub, and the width of all of our doors, I realize that I have no friggin idea how to get the tub out without resorting to demolition in place with sledge hammers. Which would be kind of a shame, since it would be a nice piece for someone to refinish someday.

And just as mysterious: How the heck did they get this tub in here in the first place? Back in 1909, they had nothing but hand tools. Did they actually build the house AROUND the tub? Did they ever do things like that? Did they take the trim off the doors to get it in?

I've got time to figure this out, since we aren't planning on doing it for a few years, but

Signed,
Mystified in Madison