A piece of history that was hidden in the Missouri State Capitol Cornerstone in 1915 was revealed Tuesday.
Just inside the Office of Administration within the cornerstone was a time capsule, placed there during the Capitol building’s construction.
Director of Communications Ryan Burns said historical records showed where it was located, but the time capsule was actually seven feet above ground.
“There’s a stone that you can see from the exterior of the building that’s engraved, but we weren’t completely certain once we came to the inside of the building where we would be able to access that stone at,” said Burns. “We started with an approximate location to chip away at some of the items that were blocking the limestone and the cornerstone, and then we used a concrete imaging device to actually locate where the time capsule was within the cornerstone.”
Burns said it took crews weeks to find it.
“We had contractors coming in and we had to cut through different layers of HVAC, ductwork, there was some clay tile, limestone, until we could finally reach the time capsule and cut a cavity out to remove that time capsule,” said Burns.
Burns said archivists will examine the capsule’s contents and attempt to preserve them for potential display.
“We will be taking it along to the health lab here in Jefferson City to store for safekeeping until we open the capsule,” said Burns. “It looks to be soldered shut on the outside, so that will become part of our conversation that we have with the archivists in the coming weeks as to the best method of opening a copper box that has been soldered shut and left for a 100 years, so as to not damage or disturb the items inside.”
Burns said historical records show it includes copies of old newspapers from St. Louis, Kansas City, and Jefferson City.
“There was a Holy Bible that was inside,” said Burns. “A copy of the laws that actually created the Capitol Commission and authorized the construction of the Capitol building.”
2015 marks the 100th Anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone. A new capsule will replace it at a celebration July 3.
Governor Jay Nixon is urging Missourians to help pick out what should go into the new time capsule that will remain sealed until 2115. Ideas can be submitted online at Mo.gov/TimeCapsule or on Twitter using the hashtag #MOTimeCapsule.