Treasures in the Walls

It is not surprising that in a historic home such as Avoca there are always mysteries to be found and secrets to be uncovered. During the renovation of Avoca in the 1980s and 90s, perhaps the biggest unanswered question was found. During construction, workers found several artifacts within the walls of Avoca and the Visitor’s Center. All of which are interesting reminders of the past. Some of the items found within the walls and ceilings are a cooking spoon, a Lipton Tea Coffee and Cocoa tin, one of only four printed copies of a Civil War account, shoes, a man’s belt, a hexagon shaped mirror, and remnants of a corset. Clearly this is a wide variety of objects, and one can’t help but wonder how they ended up within the walls. The most intriguing find by far, however, is the large painted portrait of Charles Henry Lynch (pictured below), which was also found inside Avoca’s walls. This type of portrait would have been treasured by the family and proudly put on display, so it is mystifying as to how such a perfect condition painting ended up inside of the house’s walls. Questions arise such as, who put these objects within the walls and why did they do it? One could sit and ponder this mystery for hours, but as every historian knows, sometimes the past is a book forever closed.