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ntyperteasy t1_itaiq07 wrote

Almost certainly the support for the chimney and fireplace. Weird to have it in the middle of the basement, but guess they wanted the fireplace to be in the middle of the first floor...

How old is the house? Older houses - where they actually expected you to heat with the fireplace - sometimes have an ash chute under the fireplace that went into the basement to make collecting ash easier. That might have been abandoned and closed off over the years...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/merek007/5117934235/

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torgleblorgle t1_itaw8yd wrote

My 1920s house had so much freaking ash in that chute I started worrying it might be structural removing it.

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