Possible Vintage IRON FIREMAN Coal Bin?

I apologize in advance if this posting is in the wrong section of this site (or if it should even BE on this site!) - but I've tried finding information everywhere I can, before stumbling on the Coal Forum. Here's what's stumped me...

A year ago, we bought a house in the historic section of Harrisburg, PA. (For anyone familiar with Midtown Harrisburg, the house was built in 1904 by Benjamin Engle.) In the basement, there's what looked to be a brick "base" - possibly where an old furnace used to sit, we thought. The brick base is about 3 X 4 ft, outlined with bricks (about 3 bricks high) - so the whole thing is probably a little less than a foot high. The top of this base is a cement slab (with the bricks going along the perimeter). This slab, though, is broken (not intentionally...) into 4 large peices. I recently decided to to lift one of these peices up, and see what's under it.

What I discovered was coal. Very small chunks of coal. But what's even stranger (to me) is that this bin of coal goes down into the basement floor - FIVE FEET!

This house has a gas furnace now. Before gas, there was an oil furnace. And before that, it was coal.

On one of the basement walls, there's an old decal for "The Iron Fireman - Automated Coal Stoker" - and the "authorized dealer" listed on this decal was a local company that operated in Harrisburg between 1934-1950. So, this coal most likely goes WAY back to the 1950's.

But what about this coal pit? Why is it there? Is this a common thing for old houses - to have a 5' pit of coal going down into the basement floor? If so, how did they get the coal up? I thought maybe the Iron Fireman had a sort of "corkscrew" (for lack of a better word) that would pull the coal up, but all the diagrams I've seen of the Iron Fireman, this "corkscrew" more or less pulled/pushed coal horizontally, not verically.

Also, directly in front of this rectangular pit, there is an outline (actually, it looks more like an embedded frame, filled with cement) - which is pretty much the same size as the pit (3'X4')

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what any of this means??? Like I said, I've been trying everywhere, and coming up with nothing.

Is there ash/clinkers along with the coal? Is this "pit" lined with concrete?

Wow, thats an amazing find. Can't say I've ever seen a coal bin below floor level. Under front porches was pretty common, but they were at the same level as the basement. You're right, it sounds like it would require an auger to get the coal out. But how did they get the coal in? Any coal chute anywhere? Maybe there is a neighbor old enough to remember something? If you could post a pic, that would be great! Do you suppose it could have originally been a cistern to hold rainwater and someone just filled it in with coal? Probably not I guess--I've never seen those below floor level either.

Anyway, now you'll have to get a stove to burn that coal in! (If you don't have one already).

Joe

Maybe someone at the company knows:
http://www.ironfireman.com/

I suspect that this was an ashpit.. that was dug out and emptied once or twice a season.. And when the house was converted from coal heat, the remaining coal and ash was dumped into the pit, and then concreted over..

You are correct that the Iron Fireman stokers had an auger pushing coal horizontally, I've never seen a coal storage bin requiring removal of the coal from a below the floor pit..

I'm currious if the pit has only coal in it or is it partially full of ashes in the bottom??

Can you post a photo or two of the pit and the Iron Fireman info??

Greg L

Maybe you should dig it all out, see what's in there, a box of money,parts from the old heating unit, jimmey hoffa?

Hello Exnyker
What you have in your cellar are ash pits.
The boiler whether it be hand fired or a stoker was set on those bricks.
They would use and ash cans about 35 gal.
There was either a concrete ramp or and over head lift to get the buckets out.
I have seen a few of these things around Carbon County in old homes.
art52

Wow... I was hoping my post might catch someone's attention, and I appreciate all the responses.

I promise to take some photos of this, and post them soon. I'll also check to see if the walls are concrete (which I think they are - unless the walls are brick?). Whatever the walls are, I know they're hard, judging from the way the pole skidded along them (when I was checking the depth of this pit).

I was thinking that that maybe when the house converted to oil from coal, the previous owners filled this pit (whatever it was originally used for) with leftover coal - but who knows? I would love to dig the whole thing out, just to see what's in there... Keep wondering if there's old remnants of machinery, etc. But, it'd certainly be costly - and not sure if it'd ultimately be worth the effort. Still...

Victor

Hey, art52 -

Thanks for that info! Seriously - could not figure out what this could've been for! I'll still post some photos so people can see what we're talking about here.

Really appreciate the info - thanks again.

Victor

Why would you surmise this is an Iron fireman system?

On one of the basement walls, there's an old decal for "The Iron Fireman - Automated Coal Stoker" - and the "authorized dealer" listed on this decal was a local company that operated in Harrisburg between 1934-1950.

The decal may have been from an Iron Man or it could just be a trophy!
Someone had the tower plates from the first three Killington gondola towers...
I know the towers were never in that basement...
But I have been to the Wobbly Barn!

"Why would you surmise this is an Iron fireman system?"

Hey, I admit upfront - I know nothing about this stuff... I just found what I found in my basement, and I'm pulling at straws trying to figure this stuff out... wanting to preserve what iss there (as opposed to destroying the past, you know?)... The "Iron Fireman" logo was on the wall... the bits of coal in this bin are very small pieces of coal... I figured this coal might have gone to an "Iron Fireman" system... that's all. Just trying to make an educated guess - based on not much knowledge.

My thanks again to all, for the responses, and especially to "art52" for his explanation of this coal pit. I'll post pictures soon.

Well if you are looking for a vintage in pristine condition 1927 iron fireman furnace to go with your bin, I have one

Check ur PM robin. I'm interested in hearing about it iron fireman

LsFarm wrote:I suspect that this was an ashpit.. that was dug out and emptied once or twice a season.. And when the house was converted from coal heat, the remaining coal and ash was dumped into the pit, and then concreted over..

x2.

The brickwork would elevate the boiler head to a set position relative to the stoker.

Mike