SHAMOKIN, Pa. -- A 117-year-old time capsule was housed in the cornerstone of the former YMCA and Masonic building, located at the corner of Eighth and Independence streets.
"This is part of Shamokin. There's nobody here today that was living when this was all put together," said Bob Slaby, Shamokin City Administrator.
The building was once also home to the iconic Fun Shop in downtown Shamokin for many decades.
City officials wanted to preserve the cornerstone of the building which is from 1901. In doing that they discovered the time capsule last month and the small metal box was opened Wednesday night.
Here's what was inside:
- The first item inside was a small booklet containing the 1901 Constitution of the YMCA.
- A manifest with the names of every member of the YMCA.
- Five folded newspapers, all in very good condition, were folded up inside each was slowly removed and opened one at a time.
- The Daily Dispatch, The Daily Herald and The Daily News — all Shamokin newspapers — contained articles about the dedication and opening ceremony of the YMCA building.
- Two Philadelphia newspapers — The Philadelphia Inquirer and Public Ledger.
- A small copy of the King James Bible was found inside with a small coin on its back cover.
- Two historical coins were removed from the capsule. First was a 1901 nickel with a “V” on its back, which Roughton later checked online and said was valued at $57.75. The second coin was the one found on the back of the Bible — a 1901 Barber half-dollar valued at $54.
The next step is for a local university professor to come look at everything and advise the city on how to properly preserve everything so it can all be viewed publicly.