ALTON, Ill. — A tunnel that dates to the 19th century has been discovered beneath an Illinois home.

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The tunnel was discovered accidentally by Gary Machens, who bought the home in Alton in December.

Beth Machens said she noticed part of the sidewalk was hollowed,” The Alton Telegraph reported.

“My husband stepped on the bottom step, and it kind of collapsed,” Beth Machens told the newspaper.

“According to historians here in the Alton area, this tunnel was put in here around 1840,” Gary Machens told KTVI.

As Gary Machens dug out the sidewalk, he had to remove part of a stone wall. That is when he noticed the entrance to a tunnel, the Telegraph reported.

“He called me at work and said, ‘You better get home; you’re not going to believe what I just found,’” Beth Machens told the newspaper.

The archway to the tunnel is built out of limestone, while the tunnel itself is constructed out of brick. The floor is mostly dirt and rock, with pieces of wood scattered throughout the passage.

Machens believes the change in elevation occurred in 1895 when the brick-lined street was placed in front of the Machens’ home, KTVI reported.

The Machens are not sure what the tunnel was used for, but they do have some theories, believing it could have been a storage compartment for food or ice, the Telegraph reported. It also could have been used to store a horse-drawn carriage, the newspaper reported. Beth Machens said the home did have a stable for a carriage in the early 1900s, but the tunnel could have been used to store an extra one.

Gary Machens likes the idea of opening the tunnel for tours if he can receive assistance from the city to cover the costs and make sure the passage is safe.

The home, according to Gary Machens, was originally designed by architect Lucas Pfeiffenberger, the 25th mayor of Alton, the Telegraph reported. He built the home for Capt. Henry Brueggeman -- who later became the 27th mayor of Alton. In the 1920s, the house was owned by William H. Neerman, who ran a carpet business in Alton, the newspaper reported. Paul Lenz, another mayor of Alton, lived in the home years later, according to the Telegraph.

“Yes, three former mayors of Alton have lived in this house through the years,” Machens told KTVI. “I don’t know if any of them knew about this. The house was built in 1890, the tunnel is believed from 1840, so it was here for 50 years. What it was used for, I don’t know. We’ve got maps that go back to 1863 and this house was not there and there was not another house on this property here.”

Cox Media Group