On 9/3/19 4:38 AM, micky wrote:
My townhouse has a shaft about 3' square from the basement ceiling to
the attic "floor". IIRC part of it is filled with a laundry chute. I
can't remember what else.

What is this shaft called?

I've always heard trade refer to them as a "****ing utility chase"

Do all recent houses of specific
configurations in the USA have them?

No


How long have houses had these things?

Residential pyramids built a quarter bazillion years ago have them.

Our houses from the 30's and
from the 50's didn't have one, but the 50's house had only a crawlspace,
no basement.