We have this in our basement, although much larger than what the OP posted. My understanding is a spring was fed through the walls and into a trough. The water was cold enough to keep milk and other perishables from going bad. Ours is also currently covered over/blocked. Our house was built in 1850.

I have large long concrete boxes approx 3.5' tall x 4' deep along two and part of the third adjoining walls of my 1916 foursquare farmhouse's full basement. The other walls don't have these, including the wall a pipe from a cistern passes through. The house was moved to its present location after WWI so the basement was dug and poured around that time though. My dad called them footers and joked they were big enough for the Empire State building :-) No clue if they are actually footers--though this seems unlikely as they appear to abut the block walls rather than run under them-- and if so why they aren't around the entire perimeter. As OP said, they took someone a lot of work and material to build. I've lived here 35 years+ and have always been curious what their purpose was/is.

So i am in the process of buying house from 1850 it also has the strange rectangle cube.

it almost looks like a cement bed. the one in this house is directly accross from an old rock refrigerator. so we were wondering if it possibly was used as a butcher board..

Anyone figure out what this thing is yet? I also have one in my basement, and would love to jackhammer it away if it doesn’t need to be there.

Really surprised someone hasn't come along with an authoritative answer about this yet.

I posted the question in a couple reddit groups, and so far best guesses are either an old cistern, or ledge encountered during construction that was “boxed in” rather than blasting it out.

I have one of these also! I had a contractor look at it and they didn't know what it was. But, I asked my BIL, he's a contractor in PA, and he's seen these before. He called it a "chase for a well pump." My well pump is out in my driveway, so I know where that's at. But that pipe at the back wall is most likely coming from my well pump to my tank in my crawl space. He also told me that I could carefully chip away at it. He said he opened one in PA and it was a solid top over block walls with dirt inside them.

1903 house, may have been the old barn converted to house. Also have mysterious cement bed, approx. 3.5'x4' by 1.5' in height. Water always seeps from different areas, hydro-static pressure. Looks like previous owners have sealed up different places where it weeps water.

Pic2

Since work repair is need to be done, I will be breaking up the cement in a few months time.

I am still intrigued by this… I can't believe no one has been able to identify this …I still say it's the ark of the covenant don't open it... remember what almost happened to Indy!

i found out what it is on a home inspectio. it’s a concrete case put over a cistern for safety As home codes were updated

So, mine is weeping water, out the top, that may mean it is full. If I break it apart, I better make sure I have an escape route for the water to flow. I wonder if I could tap into this, like a well, and use the water for gardening and washing cars.

So like everyone else in this post I have one in my house I searched large cement block in basement and this is what I found. my house was built in 1942 Please someone somewhere unearth this mystery.

Wow, the thread that never dies.

I'm trying to synthesize everything in the thread since I was last here. Here's an idea I came up with. These were once either wells from a time before city water, or sumps that were difficult to keep dry...or even heads of small natural springs found during construction. I know that where I live, due to variable rainfall and geography of my neighborhood, the water table rises and falls throughout the year. The reason someone didn't merely cover over with a couple hundred pounds/3 inches of concrete barely above the level of floor, is that they realized the hydrostatic pressure would be quite powerful at some times of the year. So the thinking was a huge lump of something...dirt, concrete, blocks, or a combination of all three...was needed to outweigh the hydrostatic pressure and keep the water not just out, but from physically cracking/punching through?

Roya is correct that many houses had cisterns and wells in the basement that were covered over. In the case I mentioned in my first comment, tragically these were sometimes inadequate. But you don't need thousands of pounds of material to keep a human from falling through; there was clearly another reason these are so big.

Like everyone else in this seemingly never ending thread, I recently discovered a sizable concrete box in an out building of a property I purchased. I had not paid it much attention until today. Right next to the box was a piece of plywood on the ground that I had overlooked. It appears to be capping an old well, the cavity beside it perhaps the once home of a well-pump?

This structure is approximately 50 feet from the house and the current well-pump. Located on the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula, in Northampton County, Virginia. The house is approximately 100 years old, assuming the outbuilding is not much newer.

1900 farmhouse in Michigan. In the process of renos. Discovered a mysterious

hole in the floor of the end room, which was previously covered by stairs that lead to the attic. Removed the stairs and found a hole in the floor that had an old ladder in it. Have no idea what was used for. I’ll attach a pic. Anyone havr any ideas what it could be??

My 120 year old Baltimore house has a little cement box (18" d x 30" w x 36" h, think counter-sized) like the other posters and is encased in beadboard. Located just inside basement door. Not in basement, it is on the main floor landing. Floor beneath is clear. No pipes around.. Anyone have any idea what this was for?

Old cold storage, old meat storage. Closed up because no longer used. Or old well access. My basement had an entire room with the only access up at the ceiling with a 4 × 2 opening. Had a dirt floor and a light bulb. Room was about 10 × 10. Now that's a mystery.

Here is my contribution to the never ending thread about the mystery box. I am fairly certain it is a water cistern. We used to own a house In Michigan, that was built prior to indoor plumbing. A neighbor showed me their cistern (ours was long gone) and expla8ned that there was a system of pipes capturing the flow of water in the rain gutters! It was super convenient for doing laundry and cleaning, without having to go outside to the well, particularly in the winter. In a pinch for drinking water but generally it was a convenience or emergency water supply. It looked a lot like this. I’m just not sure how you would get water out of it!

Mystery concrete boxes unite! Our mystery box in our 1940s apartment in Melbourne Australia. We are on the second floor and there is nothing underneath it in the downstairs apartment. So well cover, cistern, blocked up storage don't seem to make sense for our beloved block. One builder thought perhaps the old hot water system sat on the block. We are renovating our very small kitchen and want to remove it for extra storage. We will have a builder in on Friday to attempt to remove it- will update here if they find out anything interesting.

Ours it turned out to be our downstairs neighbour's old rangehood vent coming into our apartment and going out the wall. Not sure why they bothered venting it into our apartment instead of straight outside. After removing the vent we can see down into her apartment. The vent is no longer in use so no problem removing all this. More storage for us woohoo.

My mystery concrete box is under my spare bedroom. As far as I know the house was built in 1949 and I’m located in northern British Columbia. It is pretty big 12’x12’ and 8’ high walls. Had to hang a lamp on a rope to light it up. From reading the other posts sounds like it might be a water cistern? It’s odd that it doesn’t have a lid and above it is just floor joists. They don’t look like they’ve had any moisture problems. The pipes seen here go through the concrete wall and into the rest of the basement but have been cut off just on the other side of the wall.

These are what they used to call 'punishment's rooms' and they'd put the bad kids in there until they had time to 'cool down'

I have both a box and a slab. The slab looks like it moves but I kind of just want to leave it be lol.

In the U.S. Northeast, I've seen these concrete block built in cellars around the late 1940s, 50s, and 60s. In houses where the cellars were near or below the water table and subject to occasional minor flooding, concrete block platforms were built for washing machine to sit on. It kept the machine from sitting in casual water and rusting as well as keeping the discharge pipe higher than the vent. Having a new automatic washing machine was a big investment post WWII and they were prized. These concrete blocks frequently had thread rods embedded in them that bolted the the washer down to prevent the machine from "walking" during the spin cycle.

I'm not saying that all these block were used for this purpose. Some could be for capping off the well head when the city installed water others for encapsulating a cistern. In the older homes, they could be platforms for coal furnaces especially if they had the remnants of a wood coal bin and coal chute door that may have been removed and concreted over.

Mixing and pouring a couple of yards of concrete is a lot of work and something someone would not do for fun, so there must be a reason. Left over concrete or a good sense of humor could be a reason.

Due to the Atmospheric River this year, have had to dig up some of the floor. The cement box has been seeping alot of water, basically a giant heavy sponge right now. You cannot put cement over a water, it acts like a sponge. The basement floor has 2 layers of cement with a water layer in the middle, truly a "floating floor". Will be digging that up soon. Used a 'Electric Rotary Hammer/Dril', Hilty brand, works like a dream. A few months away from spring, getting excited to see what this block is hiding, is it solid or hollow? will definately post pictures with progress.

The well head for the property is about 75 feet away out side of the basement.

I hope it's not like when they opened the Arc of the Covenant in Indiana Jones! Good luck!

This is in my basement, I'm still trying to figure out what it is. Has the date 1953 carved into the top

Wow the plot thickens... it is always thickening in this thread ;-). This one looks like a tomb!

It is possible these were just concrete, poured into a form, to weigh down the foundation against hydrostatic pressure? Something that seemed like a good idea back then?

Yikes! My imagination clicked into overdrive. 😳😳

Davidrt28 - it's possible. I've done alot of research and it could be a number of things but it's still creepy! Lol and to put a date on it and have the word Flipiture written on an old board in the basement is just weird.... Flipiture is a 1800's style casket

They told me it is an old Cistern, it's in a room in my basement that was an addition after the home was built.

Little Bug - my imagination has been running crazy for years! I've done so much research on so many things trying to figure it out. Even took a 4" drill bit to the top of it in a few places but never broke through the cement. Sounds hollow though or more like there is a hollowish wood box inside when you tap on the top with a hammer

Davidrt28- Im not sure it would be for the hydrostatic pressure...atleast not for the wall because it is set about a foot away from the wall...maybe for the floor but idk either..it's not in the main part of the basement and the room it is in, is about 2 feet higher than the rest of the basement, it is the only basement room that has a step up into it...not sure why they did that. The basement has really good foundation and structure with no bowing walls or water damage like most of the rest of my town has. I don't have any support beams for the walls either to keep them from bowing. It was built in 1946 and whoever built it and did the additions, built it like a fortress.

They said it is a cemented over piece of a cistern but never went into more detail. So idk if it's the filter box or the entrance to the cistern or what but it's strange.

Would love to find out one day but we are selling otherwise we would open it up and find out. Maybe someone will open it one day

i dont have a box, but rather a entire thick cement wall circling my entire house. the house is dated 1890 (and also has a carriage house) but i believe it to be older and maybe starting as a small one or 2 room house and being modified with additions

anyways i had a mason told me it was built to support the structure of the house. and that the house may of had structure issues. it has a sump pump built in the floor. i am on a slope street so when it rains the pump kicks in because somewhere underground water comes towards the house obviously. but i cannot find pictures of any other house that has this much cement support

but man that wall is thick. about 4 ft tall in the highest spots on the side. and i think its solid cement all the way through

another odd thing is way in the back of the basement its a bit different, it doesnt have the professional boxed wall for support but it has a angled cement that seems like its a older support style. they built shelves over them. whats odd about this is the 2 cement boxes sticking out of the wall exactly across from each other. i have no clue wtf they are. they almost look like you could put plants in them lol. i was thinking maybe some sort of beam went through them at some point but i dunno

let me add a edit on the first 2 pics, immediately after this post i typed in a new search for the 2nd pics and i think i found what the first 2 pics are. this article explains it as a michigan basement? if what im reading is correct then i think under the cement lies the drain channel for the sump pump im assuming???

https://acculevel.com/michigan-basement-repairs/

Here is mine no one in Minnesota has seen one tried Google lens and took me to a bunch of over sea website house built 1941 there's a two story addition built in late 1980's all my plumbing is going through a pipe some where in there???

Ok so lets add more to the mystery…. were doing renos on a 1900 farmhouse in OH, came across four random rectangles perfectly across from each other , two small and two big . any ideas on what they could be ??

Somewhere on the internet, there has to be a home inspection forum (or even a reddit, but I don't "do" reddit) so someone should cross post this pictures there to find out what these damn things are. Someone has to know. THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!

lauren, on your post i may know what that is in the cement. when reading up on my walls i found that they would use wood boards to hold the cement in place, and then often take the same wood boards and use them on the house.

it could be perhaps they just took some sort of door with that design and propped it against the cement as it was drying and made that design in it. it looks similar to the design on my old skeleton key doors here.

also i found out what my 2 sideway "pots" are on my wall. they are just the wall turned sideways. im not sure why they did this. but i noticed while seeing one of my wall bricks outside that they have 2 hollow spots on the inside. so when you turn them sideways it looks like a holder of some sort.

Figured I’d add to this thread as well… 40s war home in Halifax, plumbing stack is behind the block which is located in the center of the house. I believe the house was lifted to have the foundation done in I’m guessing the late 50s.

I’ve come up with: coal furnace stand/platform (there is a square cut out above it), old chimney block, just a weird obstruction when the house was built..

I would really like to take it out, a little worried if causing damage but likely going to go at it soon.

I am currently purchasing a house from 1860 ish and found a 3 x 4 x1' concrete "trough" now reading through these comment I believe it is an old well or something..it had some old metal spicket pipes that had been cut out and just laid in it I didn't connect the two but it makes sense that it was some kinda water source.

why has'nt anyone talked about the 2 pipes in the concrete room?

I have a concrete box that’s approximately 6 x 6 attached to my house that contains the housing for my well. It’s Located approximately 2 feet underground. The floor of this box is covered with cement however they left an opening to dirt that is approximately 2‘ x 2‘ in one corner. Why did they build these well chambers this way.

prob doesn’t apply to every ”mystery box” on this thread, but a lot of old homes had either/and a coal bin/cistern in the basement. a sloped to a funnel floor inside would indicate coal bin. conder block construction would rule out cistern also. is there perhaps an area accessible from outside that could have had an opening that probably had a cast iron door for loading?

I just keep thinking, “A dead body?”