I did get to do a small amount of exploration locally. Saturday's adventure started with permission to scrounge a 100+year old building scheduled for demolition soon. While the main and upper story had been long ago picked over, what many locals did not realize was that the place had a basement. We went in search of that basement!
The old fasioned long narrow store building was last used regularly as an appliance shop, and shoe repair in about 1969. Since then it was mostly used for storage. The roof has been in need of repair for many years, and the floor reflects this. Curiously, the second story floor is in much better shape than that of the main floor. One portion of the main floor has sunk almost 18 inches from the original level.
It took a good deal of the morning to find the trap door. When we did, it was in one of the more sagging sections of the floor. If you look close in the pic below you can see how the floor boards have seperated from the ones near the wall, and though hard to see, the section of the trap door hole in the right lower portion is about 16 inches lower than the portion of the floor nearest the wall. The white stuff on the under side of the trap door, and the yellow color on the frame below it is mold/mildew. The stairs were long ago rotted away about half way down, so we had to scurry down the hole like rodents.
The old fasioned long narrow store building was last used regularly as an appliance shop, and shoe repair in about 1969. Since then it was mostly used for storage. The roof has been in need of repair for many years, and the floor reflects this. Curiously, the second story floor is in much better shape than that of the main floor. One portion of the main floor has sunk almost 18 inches from the original level.
It took a good deal of the morning to find the trap door. When we did, it was in one of the more sagging sections of the floor. If you look close in the pic below you can see how the floor boards have seperated from the ones near the wall, and though hard to see, the section of the trap door hole in the right lower portion is about 16 inches lower than the portion of the floor nearest the wall. The white stuff on the under side of the trap door, and the yellow color on the frame below it is mold/mildew. The stairs were long ago rotted away about half way down, so we had to scurry down the hole like rodents.
