What could it be for?

[Dorthy Fuller]

Hello,

I recently was having some flooring pulled up, to have hardwood floors installed. This is a century home without a known history. There were multiply floor coverings along with a layer of plywood, and also a layer of which looked like barn siding. Underneath it all was some original hardwood floors which are in terrible shape. Now the for the strange part.

At the back of the main floor stairs which lead upstairs, was a cut out in the floor near the wall. The cut out size in the floor is about 2'x2'. The workers lifted this section out, and lo and behold it led to part of the basement which I didn't even know existed. The basement walls are all old quarry stone and there isn't a way to access the room from the basement. Anyways, there is a room down there which is approximately 14'x16'. There are no stairs, and the ceiling height is only about 5' tall, the floor is dirt in this room vs. someone had concreted the basement that we know. I had asked the workers to hold up on further work until I decided whether to somehow have them add stairs (for whatever reason).

The workers say it might have been part of the underground railroad used to hide slaves. BTW, this is in Northern Ohio. Needless to say, this is kind of exciting and scary at the same time. What do you think this room could've been used for?

[John Harlow]

Sounds interesting - can you post pics?

[Kathy]

Root cellar

[xrongor]

it puts the lotion on its skin

randy

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Root cellar would be my guess. See if there is any evidence of onion skins, potatoes or whatever that did not rot away over the years. Root cellars were a part of every farm home.

[Chew Me]

A root cellar would definitely have had a bigger opening than 2x2, and it would have more likely have been in or next to the kitchen via a trap door or regular door, but with stairs in either case. Have you been in it?

The underground railroad concept is intriguing! Or maybe smuggling, organized crime, rum running, etc. I doubt it was "it puts the lotion on its skin," but that was a darned funny comment.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

The 2 x 2 opening was hidden. Possibly another opening that is also hidden over the years. Old houses can be a mystery.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Have you tried digging up the cellar floor? Any skeltons?

Perce

On 02/16/05 09:49 pm Dorthy Fuller tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

[George E. Cawthon]

Scary? you afraid of the ghost of the dead people buried down there coming up and creating havoc?

Seriously, I agree with others that suggested it was a root cellar, may have also served the purpose of storing other things also. Probably not built as a hiding spot unless you find another entrance or rather an exit to the outside of the house but may have served that purpose.

[Mark and Kim Smith]

[Mark and Kim Smith]

[Joseph Meehan]

Underground railroad is possible in northern Ohio, but I am going to bet on something a little more recent, like the 1920's. A lot of booze was brought in across lake Erie during prohibition and a lot of speakeasys had hidden cellars.

[jdk]

i would bet the booze. my old family farm was in southern ohio and was used for escaping slaves. but once in ohio they were safe especially north ohio.

[Phisherman]

Most likely it is part of an underground railway for hiding slaves.

[Matt]

I bet it's part of the US's first nuclear defense system, built in about 1779. The plan was to launch nuclear missles from people's basements, as Britain could not see the launch sites withh their satellites if they were concealed in homes.

However, after the silos were built, the entire plan was scrapped because the designers realized that nuclear bombs and satellites would not be invented for almost 200 years.

[carolcohen]

Archetypal Jungian dream room.

[John Harlow]

Can't you get anything right? It's NU-QU-LAR.

[scott_z500]

Why would you need to hide slaves in northern Ohio? I'm guessing root cellar. I have no idea what a root cellar is.

[m Ransley]

Didnt John Wane Gacy live in Ohio for awhile before Chicago.

[D. Gerasimatos]

[snip!]

Lots of things. Hiding liquor during Prohibition. Hiding valuables at any time. (My house has a secret compartment that the original owner used to store his silverware in.) It could have been part of the underground railroad, like you suggested. Ohio is a bit far north, though.

Dimitri