In an interesting turn of events, a time capsule dating 118 years back was found last week in a fire station in Ohio, United States, which was slated for demolition, as per the New York Post. A few off-duty firefighters of the Marion Fire Department started hammering and chiselling to remove the building's cornerstone so that it might be preserved when they discovered a copper box inside the cornerstone.
Officials discovered four old local newspapers from 118 years ago, nine turn-of-the-century fireman badges, a fire department roster from 1905 and other stuff using tin snips at a public reveal event held this week. Along with other documents, the box included the original lease for the property from Marion Power Shovel to the City of Marion, an invitation from the Delphos Fire Department to the Northwestern Ohio Volunteer Fireman's Association Fireman's Games from 1878, and a letter from the fire chief at the time confirming that the cornerstone was laid on July 20, 1905.
"The box is open! Thank you to everyone that stopped downtown today to check out our station and the time capsule opening! With the help of a pair of tin snips, we opened the box easily, and we were thrilled with the results," Marion Fire Department officials said on Facebook.
"Inside the box, very well preserved were many items- Including- (9) turn of the century era Marion Fire Department badges. The original lease for the property from the Marion Power Shovel to the City of Marion. An 1878 invitation from the Delphos Fire Department for the "Northwestern Ohio Volunteer Fireman's Association Fireman's Games" A roster of 1905 City Officials. 4 Marion Daily Star Newspapers from July of 1905. A contract from 1905 between the City of Marion and James B Luke to build the Fire Station. An agenda from the Second Annual Marion Fire Department Ball dated April 24, 1905," they added.
"This is so awesome!!! So cool to see so many pieces of history like that and so well preserved!! Awesome find guys and thank you for sharing!! You guys should do a similar time capsule and also add the information about finding this one and hide it away in the new construction for someone else to maybe find in another 118 years lol," said a user.
"So cool! Hope the fire department incorporates a time capsule in their new building," said a user.
A third person added, "Thank you for allowing us to watch! I was surprised there was so much history in that little box."
"That is so cool. You guys need to do that with your new station being constructed," remarked a user.
"Call me a dork. I love this kind of stuff. I'm so glad you were able to share this find with your folks," said a person.
