A simple metal box tucked into a cornerstone of a building built in the middle of a cornfield more than a century past has captivated the community of Owatonna.
Owatonnans filled that box back in 1920 with rosters from local volunteer organizations, a history of the city’s founding, a list of local officials and financial statements from the city, school district and area banks.
The rusted box was unearthed earlier this year by workers in the middle of demolishing the old Owatonna High School. Owatonna Public Schools officials unveiled the time capsule’s contents last month, garnering national attention at a peek at what life was like in this southern Minnesota city 100 years ago.
“I don’t know that this is something you find very often in these times,” Owatonna Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Elstad said.
School officials held a ceremony April 22 to open the capsule, which also included area newspapers, a pin from the Grand Army of the Republic group of veterans from the Civil War and a coin from the 1920s (though three coins were listed on the inventory sheet). The box even included an old photograph of the leader of one of the fraternal lodges in town.
According to the district, workers demolishing the old high school were told to take special care to preserve the building’s cornerstone, which they had planned to repurpose. But workers called district officials in early February with news they found something in the stone.
“There’s this pioneering aspect of where you build something new,” Elstad said. “I guess the expectation in Owatonna is our high schools are going to last us 100 years. That’s certainly the expectation here.”
It was common practice to hide time capsules in cornerstones of buildings like the old high school, according to Jennifer Thiele of the Steele County Historical Society. But Owatonna officials had no record of a time capsule hidden anywhere on the property.
