“What Is This?”: Creepy And Confusing Finds From Houses With Secret Histories
Most days, a home is just a home. Walls, bricks, doors, windows, and whatever we’ve filled it with. But sometimes, there’s more to it than meets the eye.
In the Facebook group A House With History, curious people share strange things they’ve come across in their own homes or while exploring old, forgotten places. Think secret rooms, hidden tunnels, odd objects left behind—anything that makes you stop and wonder what really happened there.
Here are some of the most surprising finds.
People put them in for their cats to be able to get to the cat box and other areas of the house without the heat, leaving the room. They want the door closed and the heat in
These double edge razor blades were found in the bathroom wall. Way back when, the medicine cabinets had a slot in back. It was purposely put there to dispose the old blades which just fell into the wall.
This is an A & B phone. You put in your dime and made the call. If they didn’t answer you got your money back. Otherwise your money got deposited and you could continue your call
The image shows a Buffalo Forge No. 418 Post Drill Press, an antique tool typically used in woodworking and blacksmith shops, especially in areas without electricity.
Digby Lock-Up, also known as the Pepperpot, located in Digby, Lincolnshire. It is a Grade II listed building with historical significance.
Originally a 17th-century wellhead, it is made of limestone and stands 2 meters high.
It may have been used as a lock-up for petty criminals or drunks, especially during the Napoleonic Wars.
This little device was a grocery list checker. Dates back to the 1920s and people kept it on the kitchen. Probably why these are found during kitchen renovations.
it was probably used for used oil. Back then you changed your own oil and disposed of it on your own. This hole would allow the oil to seep into the ground and it would go bye bye
It’s a damper for an old gravity furnace. I’d remove it, clean it up, polish it and reinstall it. It would be a lovely talking point! I’ll bet it’s a beautiful brass piece.
My Grandparents had a wheel with a sprocket on it on 1st floor. Sprocket had a chain that went thru floor to stoker in the basement. Turning the wheel caused coal to be fed to the stoker which increased the heat fed up thru floor registers warming the home.
I believe it’s a Yacouba Double Spoon – a symbol of hospitality in traditional African art. It represents 2 very distinct universes that are opposite.
In the 1970s they were called valets—men hung their suit jackets on them when they came home from work and put their pocket contents in the little tray.
Tandem parallel plug. It’s a normal 2 prong 120volt outlet. However in the early days before plugs were standardized there was a double flat configuration. That’s it. Some will say it’s a 240 outlet. It’s not However todays 15 amp 240 volt outlet plug like for an ac unit shares the same double flat configuration with a ground pin of course.
Often, when a house was being built, a family moving into the house would hide shoes in different places. There were children’s shoes on the walls of the children’s rooms, women’s shoes next to the fireplaces and kitchens. Men’s shoes were hidden in the attic. The purpose of these was to bring good luck to the house and drive away evil spirits.
This looks like it was constructed as a barn or stable. That being the case, those slits are for ventilation.
Has to do with archery so the archer can send arrows out with some cover. Not relevant anymore but neat.
