History Decorated The Room
This room was about 14 feet deep and 6 to 8 feet wide. If you consider the size of the room you can actually realize that’s a nice size room or even equal to the room of your present house. But why did the previous owner of Alex’s house hid a room that too under the basement? What was the reason behind all this? So many questions and still no answer to any one of them.
Alex was ready and decided to meet the local historian from her town.
The Historian
When a local historian looked into the situation of Alex’s house, she was also surprised by the size of the room. He told her that there could be several reasons for this hidden room under the basement but one reason he emphasized was about the connection between this room and the underground railroad. Underground railroad? She asked. Now that is something you don’t come across every day. But it seemed the only proper explanation for the room as Alex’s neighbor’s homes had such same historical connection and she felt proud about the possibility that her house too can be historic.
Alex Met Rachel
When Rachel Moloshok, the managing editor of publications for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania heard about the story of Alexandra Poulos, it peaked her interest and she paid a visit to Alex’s house. Alex’s first question to Rachel was about the underground railroad. Though she visited many internet sites to find out about the underground railroad, with so much information in hand she got really confused and then Rachel told her all about the underground railroad.
Rachel was also interviewed and in her interview, she told, “The region in general historically has been known as an abolitionist sympathizer area that probably did have a good number of people who have been involved in or were sympathetic to anti-slavery activism, including potential participation in the Underground Railroad”.
How To Confirm The History
But how do you confirm the history? How to further investigate it? Moloshok told in the interview, “The only way to really follow up on that would be to research who the owners were in the past and follow up on property records and see if there were people who were known to be vocal abolitionists, based on the actual documentation of that”.
Alex tried finding the previous owner but no success in hand she decided to drop the idea. But when she heard about the rumor that people used to hide gold in rooms like these, her mind didn’t stop her from thinking about the possibility that there might be some gold hidden in that room.
Gold? Or Something Different Entirely
Alex had a clear picture in her mind of the room and while picturing it she remembered that this house has a stone wall that had some loose stones in it. Could those be the small spaces where the gold is hidden? She was intrigued by the thought but she can’t do anything about it because of what Jerry said, If excavation was done further then it could damage the whole foundation of the house.
Rachel also told about the other angles behind the room, “[maybe] somebody was paranoid and hiding gold” or maybe the family was hiding something different other than gold or it was just a storage room. But why to hide the storage room under the basement?
A Thrill Ride For Everyone
After keeping every possible explanation aside, Alex and her tenant were just excited about the fact they found something hidden in their house. It doesn’t matter what it was used for but the fact that her childhood suspicion came true made her really happy, “I need to figure out the next steps,” she said. “Jerry is so enthralled by it. They’re just as obsessed with this stuff as I am”. Jerry even gave comment about his personal feelings on the house, “I’ve always known this house is special, from the second I walked in. It’s like a spirit saying, ‘Don’t leave me’”, she told in the interview.