Is there a second story above the kitchen?
Was there a fireplace in that corner?
A bathroom?

It that the top of the wall or the bottom of the wall?

We have this in our bathroom. Similar age house, same part of the country. Mud bed is one word for it, and it was used as a base for tile, in a pre-cement-board era. I can see in the photo the marks on the stud from the wire mesh that was used a base for the layers of concrete, and you may see chunks of concrete that look like brick or rock, with the indent marks from the tile still on them.

Your house will be fine. It just means that your kitchen once might have had floor to ceiling tile, as was popular for some houses of the era.

But the stuff is a complete bear to remove, if that's what your after. Messy, sharp, and heavy.

Mousun, thanks for the info and reassurances. Yes, mud bed, that's it. We have a thick mud bed under our entire kitchen floor, which is why we are keeping that floor. Luckily the electricians grabbed buckets and shovels and cleared enough space to give me up-to-date electric.

Lazy gardens, the photo is the center/middle of the wall. No FP or bathroom on the original floor plan in that corner. Perhaps, it was tiled behind an old stove? Thanks for the ideas.

That's what our 1930's walls are like and we are in central TX. Interior and exterior bathroom and kitchen. No problems with removing.

Sundowner, thanks for the reassurance.

It was a bit alarming at first. We are doing this mostly DIY, DYI other than electric and countertop. We have had to patch and demo other parts of our walls before. We just didn't see this before.

Thanks to the heads up from the folks here, we will assume that we may this in our walls beneath the tile in the bathroom too. Yippee! But that's not till next year, if we survive this kitchen reno!

Sundowner, thanks for the reassurance.

It was a bit alarming at first. We are doing this mostly DIY, DYI other than electric and countertop. We have had to patch and demo other parts of our walls before. We just didn't see this before.

Thanks to the heads up from the folks here, we will assume that we may this in our walls beneath the tile in the bathroom too. Yippee! But that's not till next year, if we survive this kitchen reno!

Oh man, am I ever glad we're done with those kind of 'surprises'. We had 3 kitchen ceilings hidden above the 1970's drop ceiling and one was some kind of cement.

How come no one hardly ever finds that jar of gold coins in the walls but always finds this kind of stuff? Does not seem fair, really.

Deedles: that's exactly what I said to the electrician. Why aren't we the family that finds the gold coins? Or at least an old master piece?

My DH found a sword tucked up in a ceiling. It was hidden by lots of debris. I doubt we'll go on The Roadshow, but at least it's a good story.

FWIW: following your progress. It's all coming together beautifully.

A sword?!! How cool. Do you still have it? Any idea how old it is?

Linelle: we have the sword stashed somewhere. I'll have to unearth it after the reno and take pictures. It was cool. But it's also a bit odd to think of the guy who stashed it up in the ceiling joists in the basement. Why was he hiding it? I'll start a thread: my house gifted me an old sword; what did your house gift you during your reno. Maybe other folks have found neat stuff and not just rocks and concrete.

Maybe it's a casing for a dead body?!?! Prohibition era, mobs, NYC. ;)

Probably not,but I would enjoy making up a few fun stories.

Jimmy Hoffa! Chrissyb call Geraldo.

We just uncovered a small area of original wallpaper. I'll upload a picture later. It's quite charming. A previous owner put sheet rock over the entire section of the wall, including the original baseboard.

Jimmy Hoffa! Chrissyb call Geraldo.

We just uncovered a small area of original wallpaper. I'll upload a picture later. It's quite charming. A previous owner put sheet rock over the entire section of the wall, including the original baseboard.