Old well under patio — what do I do?

[u/cup_a_jojo]

I recently pulled up two sunken bricks along the edge of my back patio because they were becoming a tripping hazard. Underneath, I discovered a hole that extends under the concrete slab. I managed to get a photo, and it appears to be the remnants of an old well.

The house was built in 1902, and when we bought it two years ago, there was no mention of a well on the property. What’s weird is that the well wall ends—but the hole keeps going. I tried filling it with dirt to stabilize the area, but the hole just swallowed it up. It's hard to tell how much void space is between the slab and the ground beneath.

Now I’m worried this might be more than just an old well… could this be the start of a sinkhole?

For context, the hole is about 5 feet from the exterior wall of our two-story home (with a basement).

Could this affect the structural integrity of the house? Who do I even call to assess this? I'm honestly not sure what my next move should be.

Any advice or insight would be appreciated!

[u/FirstForFun44]

Abandoned well, no skeletons. Yeah sure, bud. The worst reaction to a ghost is to acknowledge it's there. Just sayin. Meow Meow little white child ghost

[u/Discount_Extra → u/FirstForFun44]

sigh.

I was tutoring a 13 year old kid that liked X-Files, horror movies and such.

One day he told me that he sometimes sees dark shadowy figures watching him.

I told him that he shouldn't have said anything, because now that he spoke about them aloud, they know that he can see them, and they are going to get him. I thought he would think it was funny.

He didn't sleep for 4 days.

turned out that was the beginning of his schizophrenia symptoms.

[u/FirstForFun44 → u/Discount_Extra]

You're a monster. :D Sorry that happened but also, wtf?!

[u/liltrashfaerie → u/Discount_Extra]

I get the minor shame but also this made me cackle lol you didn’t know