"[1] The magazine was started in September 2009 in the San Francisco Bay Area, by editors-in-chief Amos Mac and Rocco Kayiatos.

[2] It is the aim of Original Plumbing to represent "true diversity in the female-to-male (FTM) trans community; in size, age, body, surgery, hormone use and non-use.

Original Plumbing's first issue, with the theme “Bedroom,” sold out before it was even published in 2009 — but Mac and Kayiatos were still unsure how their magazine would fare when they started.

[5] The magazine's name refers to the term "original plumbing" as used by transgender people in Craigslist personal ads to indicate they have not had sex reassignment surgery.

[8][2] As founding editor and creative director of this project, Mac has photographed the majority of the content within Original Plumbing.