Century-Old Time Capsules Opened in U.S., Mysteries Inside

Two time capsules in the United States were opened this week, one in New York and the other in Boston. Both were over 100 years old, containing documents and mysteries that historians will have to figure out. The time capsules were retrieved and opened with a ceremony, both publicly.

The time capsule in New York was opened Wednesday on its 100th anniversary. The New York Historical Society opened the capsule created by Wall Street businessmen celebrating New York as a center of commerce. According to Boing Boing, the contents of the time capsule were encased in a bronze box whose lid was sealed by 26 screws.

A Mashable photo gallery captured the time capsule’s opening. Inside were newspapers and other items depicting the state of business affairs in 1914. The Lower Wall Street Business Men’s Association buried it at the foot of Wall Street and then entrusted it to the New York Historical Society, said an American history professor. Its condition was extremely well-preserved thanks to the time capsule being buried indoors, rather than hidden under a statue or outside. Some of the items are considered priceless and some were very old even at the time the capsule was made, including a letter believed to have been written before the American Revolution.

In Boston, things were a bit more mysterious, though. A time capsule was hidden inside the head of the crowned lion which adorns one side of the Old State House, itself an exceedingly historical building. That time capsule, placed there in 1901, was made of copper and had been hidden away at the time of the statue’s erection and was only a rumor until workers refurbishing the statue noted that the crown was held on by copper wires.

CBS News reports that the copper box time capsule was about the size of a large shoebox and contained many items whose contents were not immediately obvious. A red hardcover book with no visible title was surrounded, it appeared, by newspaper that had been stuffed into the space around it. The box is likely much deeper than the book, so other items are probably in there as well.

The fragile condition of the box and its contents was cause for concern, however, so archivists did not immediately remove them in front of attendees at the ceremony. Instead, it will be taken to a climate-controlled facility and its contents will be removed and cataloged carefully in more sterile conditions. The time capsule was placed in the lion’s head by persons unknown, but an article from the Boston Globe in 1901 indicated that the copper time capsule was placed there with contents “which will prove interesting when the box is opened many years hence.” The Globe now reports that the Bostonian Society says that the time capsule’s contents are in “remarkably good condition.”

The contents will be cataloged and shown to the world within the week, the Society promised.