The markings on the left wall are electrical outlets, installed at these locations when the house converted from gas lighting.
This Odd House has been standing for over a hundred years. Its walls have been painted, covered, remodeled, and rearranged. They hide a history of technology evolution. As we open them up for this round of renovation, we can piece together the clues revealed.
When it first was occupied, indoor lighting was provided by lamps fueled from gas lines. A remnant gas pipe was found above the bathroom ceiling, since capped off, but originally it fed two wall sconces in what is now the living room.
A capped off gasline, next to two electrical conduits, found above the ceiling of the bathroom.
When the city converted to electrical power for lighting, the wall sconces were replaced by electrical outlets, probably an obvious substitution at the time, even if it seems like an odd position for outlets today.
When the house was built, a telephone network existed, but phones were expensive and probably not common in individual homes. Eventually of course, telephones became an essential part of life and the house was wired for them. Today the lines come in at the back of the house on the second floor, and wires are routed through tortuous paths to nearly every room.
The phone lines entering the house. There are two sets servicing what was once a duplex. They will be abandoned in place.
Today I find myself in the company of twenty-somethings, having a cell phone but no landline. At the risk of not being able to escape the Matrix, I am pulling out the four-wire phone cable and jacks (including the ones in the bathrooms). This goes against all of my engineering instincts, wanting to preserve any and all functionality in case it is needed for some unanticipated need or support call. I console myself by recognizing that in the event of a future technology reversal, I can run wires to the dial phone abandoned in the basement by the previous owners. Phones come, phones go.