What is this strange symbol painted on basement floor?

Question

Given the layers of dirt this symbol and the walkway were found under, I assume it was painted before the 1960s. The house was likely built between 1900-1913, with the basement being dug at the same time. But the concrete used for the floor in each room of the two-room basement is different, with the backroom where the symbol was found having more layers of dirt and what appears to be an older style of concrete. As shown in the illustrations, there is a trapdoor to the basement. At the bottom of the stairs under the dirt a painted path was found (red and green colors as indicated) which led to the back room of the basement.

enter image description here

The path ends at the doorway to the back room, and does not connect directly to the symbol although it shares the same colors. enter image description here

I did trace the history of the home and did not find any notable family names that could have given easy clues as to the origin of the symbol. The house is one of eight roughly identical one-story brick homes on the block, all built at the same time with similar basements, but winding up with different layouts and materials today. This house was the only one with the symbol. None of the other houses use a trapdoor for internal basement access, but they do have the stairs in a similar location.

Streetview of the Property

The house is located in the Austinburg neighborhood of Covington, Kentucky.

Map of Austinburg

I can provide additional neighborhood history information if you think it would help. I've run this online in the past and have gotten a number of suggestions, usually focusing on a venus symbol or a half anchor. I'm curious whether anyone here can identify the symbol with a credible source.

I love these local history questions. Even if they can be hard to answer. — LateralFractal, Nov 21 '14 at 02:46
Please include a photo, they are immensely helpful in identification questions. — Semaphore, Nov 21 '14 at 05:15
It's similar to a number of alchemical symbols - which one it's meant to be will indicate who left it, as different secret societies and spiritualist movements laid claim to different alchemical elements as part of their rite. A photo of the symbol would clarify things. — RI Swamp Yankee, Nov 21 '14 at 19:29
My wife was born in Covington, and grew up in the area. I believe it was heavily settled by German immigrants, and the neighborhood name seems to lean that way as well. That might be a clue for someone. — T.E.D., Nov 21 '14 at 21:10
I actually don't have a photo, or access to the property to take one. The second image above, "Overhead View of Symbol," portrays the symbol in its original colors. As far as size, the large diameter was roughly seven feet. — SeanFromIT, Nov 21 '14 at 22:47
It is similar to Brass symbol in alchemy, it would make sense if it is connected to some material present in there. Here is the symbol itself: http://feuerschmiedwandshoppe.com/Figures/Metals/Brass-Symbol.gif — CsBalazsHungary, Dec 02 '14 at 10:35
Hmm, creepy. Does the dirt in the basement look "disturbed". — Tyler Durden, Dec 04 '14 at 20:41
I am new to the forum at this point so can't throw this in a comment. If this is in your house a photo, even a bad one, would go a long way. A specific address or even cross streets would go a long way too as meeting minutes or archived flyers may refer to the address or neighborhood. I did a quick run through Google Street view of the neighborhood but did not see the specific house pictured to try to obtain the address. What color / shade of green is it? You menti — CRSouser, Dec 04 '14 at 20:05
My best guess is the alchemical symbol for Magnesia described as "one of many symbols used to describe the central mystery of alchemy" though it is not quite the same. Have you asked the local historical society, Masons or other long lived civic club? — Schwern, Feb 15 '15 at 17:43
@lot That theory is obviously wrong, else it would have a slash or an X through it. — dwn, Feb 16 '15 at 20:05

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 23 '20 at 17:33

I'm surprised I'm the first to suggest this, and this is probably a bit of a stretch, but with Covington being right on the border between slave and free states, could this have marked a stop on the underground railroad? I know the construction date of the building was stated as 1900-ish so would be too new, but it mentions the concrete in the back basement as "older" so I speculate maybe this connected to an underground chamber of some earlier building?

Passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act only increased the number of slaves who not only escaped from and through Kentucky, but also continued their journey on to Canada. Several slave narratives document escapes by slaves from other Northern Kentucky communities who passed through the Covington or Newport stations on their way to Canada. -- Kentucky and the Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad

The so-called "Symbol" looks to me like a map of the Ohio river crossing. Look again at your map and note how you've drawn the river as hooking upward on the right, just as the bottom of the symbol hooks up on the right. Could this symbol really be a crude map showing how to cross the river to an area of safety? At the time, there would have been no bridges, but the vertical line might indicate a path to safety from the ferry drop-off point, across a major road to the next station on the railroad.

_{(source: gbot.me)}

I imagine there are land records indicating who owned this property in the 1840-1860 period, and whether there were buildings on this site; if not that would disprove this theory. Also, I'm not sure whether it was common practice to lay concrete floors in basements in that time period - they may have just been dirt floors typically; if that's true this also would blow a hole in my theory.

The chronology is off, unless OP is wrong about when the basement was built (or unless the symbol is decorative). — two sheds, Feb 16 '15 at 12:56
The idea is not bad, but I couldn't spot anything which looks like the symbol anywhere near to Ohio river. — CsBalazsHungary, Feb 16 '15 at 13:10

Onoper · Answer 2 · 2018-12-20T09:29:50.027

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Hypotesis: A simple toboggan game path.

The game consists in "slidding down the stairs following the colored path to the exact spot with the icon".

Unknown Symbol is a kid on a toboggan.

edited Dec 20 '18 at 09:29

answered Dec 19 '18 at 17:13

Onoper

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(1) Perhaps you mean "sled" instead of "slid" (past participle of to slide). (2) What you have illustrated is a toboggan (child's version of a bobsled) rather than a snow sled, which would have runners and be a child's version of a luge. – Pieter Geerkens Dec 19 '18 at 17:38

score -2 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 16 '15 at 19:55

-2

CRSouser had the right basic idea that it is a variant on an Ankh.

The symbol is almost certainly from the Theosophy movement. The basic emblem of this movement is a stick figure ankh inside of a pentagram. Sometimes this was abbreviated as just a circle with a stem and cross bar. The significance of the lower, ski-shaped crossbar I can't say, but given the time period and nature of the symbol it is highly likely there were Theosophical meetings in the house.

answered Feb 16 '15 at 19:55

Tyler Durden

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The timeline with this theory roughly fits according to https://theosophy.wiki/en/Cincinnati_Theosophical_Society, which was known to have meetings at homes. It would be interesting to get a list of members from the records at the Theosophical Society in America Archives and see if any names match the property's deeds. The only nearby famous property is Holmesdale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Henry_Holmes) but I did not find deeded proof that this property was part of it. – SeanFromIT Jun 04 '18 at 23:18
Ankhs lack the straight bar beneath the loop. – Aaron Brick Dec 19 '18 at 19:35

What is this strange symbol painted on basement floor?

3 Answers3