a different kind of id. any clue?

[Older The Better]

my parents bought what was once a school house from the late 1800's I was climbing around the attic to see how the original ceiling and structure was laid out. this strange carved board was between the rafters above the original plaster ceiling, the school house used to have a cupola and a bell, I didn't see any signs of that above this board but for what ever reason I feel like maybe this board was a rope guide to ring the bell but that's nothing but a hunch. anybody familiar with old architecture that maybe recognizes what this is or why its there?... it might be worth adding the only other thing up there is debris from the original roof basically splinters and a few nails so I don't think this board ended up there by accident

 

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[Subterranean]

Reminds me of a BBQ vent, may have had a sliding board under it at one time to ventilate the room below it?

 

[creskol]

What are we looking at? Is that looking down at the ceiling joists or is that looking up through the rafters? If that is the rafters, how far down from the peak of the roof? It has obviously seen some modern day repair or replacement as evidenced by the OSB sheathing.

 

[Older The Better]

I'm above the ceiling kneeling on the rafters looking down between them, I could stand on the rafters but had to crawl to get around so id guess 7ish feet to the roof.
yes the roof was replaced with a metal one at some point with an osb base, the original roof I'm guessing was a shake shingle because of the wide spacing between the boards, the exact same construction technique I saw in my outhouse when I put a new roof on it. it might be worth noting the ceilings are 11 ft so what ever it was it wasn't easily reached from below

 

[digger460]

And there's OSB under the board I think your talking about. Any clue's of anything that may have been in the room under that board?

 

[creskol]

I'm above the ceiling kneeling on the rafters looking down between them, I could stand on the rafters but had to crawl to get around so id guess 7ish feet to the roof.
yes the roof was replaced with a metal one at some point with an osb base, the original roof I'm guessing was a shake shingle because of the wide spacing between the boards, the exact same construction technique I saw in my outhouse when I put a new roof on it. it might be worth noting the ceilings are 11 ft so what ever it was it wasn't easily reached from below

Okay.. so you are in the attic space, kneeling on the ceiling joists, looking at the ceiling of the room below?

 

[reale bill]

looks like the beginning of a cutout stencil for the symbol for radioactive.

 

[nhbenz]

Was the place ever a fallout shelter? Maybe it was intended to be used as a stencil at some point?

 

[NOLA_Ken]

That's pretty odd... I've renovated and worked on a lot of old buildings and that's a new one on me. I can see how the holes were made, but what they were for

 

[HuntinDog]

It isn't a rope guide for the bell... no wear from the rope.

I see debris from the old roofing, but no OSB.

Do you see any other blocking between any other rafters??
Could just be blocking with what ever was handy (waste not/want not) to straighten the warped rafter when the ceiling was being finished.

 

[creskol]

I still don't know if it is in the roof (between the RAFTERS) or ceiling (between the CEILING JOISTS). If it is in the roof rafters, I have seen old roof ventilators mounted to boards of various descriptions that had screen mounted to the bottom. I do see small pieces of wood tacked to your board as well that were obviously meant to hold something in place ..perhaps screen?

 

[Older The Better]

ok lets see maybe I'm leaving out details. it was a school house that was one rectangle with 11' ceilings. the school house was moved and remodeled the inspector thought some time in the 70's, part of that remodel they lowered the ceiling to 8' but left the original above, so you have an 8' living space then new ceiling. then a 3' air gap and the original ceiling, above the original ceiling is the attic. I am in the attic above the original ceiling. the osb I think some of you are seeing is actually tounge and groove planks that I think were the base for the plaster on the ceiling. I'm am on the rafters... I don't want to call them trusses because I don't think that's the proper term for what I call a stick built attic but anyway I'm on the bits holding the roof up and tying the walls together looking down on the original ceiling with the roof above my head. there are a few planks to crawl on but that is the only thing between the rafters I crawled front to back looking to see if there were any treasures hiding up there. and that was the only thing up there that wasn't small splinters ad roofing nails, the room below was the classroom then a living room and I don't think its related to a a stove because there's a chimney in the center of the attic... I hope that helps clear up any confusion

 

[Older The Better]

... after typing that I was thinking maybe it has something to do with moving the house? I wasn't clear in my last post but the house was moved some time when they still used lathe and plaster because there is an addition with lathe and plaster construction, then it was renovated ceilings lowered blown insulation a second addition some time in the 70's when energy efficiency became trendy. I'm not familiar with how they moved houses in the early 1900's but could it be an anchor point? maybe why the rafters are doubled up? I'm having trouble loading pics not sure why its rotating some of them, the wall paper one is in between ceilings and the blown insulation goes down. others show the tounge and groove boards and lathe and plaster

 

[A2coins]

possible make shift support temporary

 

[Beepaddict]

Reminds me of a BBQ vent, may have had a sliding board under it at one time to ventilate the room below it?
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I have to agree with subterranean it seems like some sort of attic vent or possibly a way to help cool considering that heat rises. Maybe?