In Pleasant Hill, unearthed 1976 time capsule leads to discovery — a watery mess
Digging up the past can be a slippery exercise. In Pleasant Hill, it turned out to be soaked.
On Tuesday, in preparation for the Fourth of July and the celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary, the city “exhumed” from the ground what, in 1976, was a sealed red, white and blue Monticello vault — a coffin-looking time capsule.
The idea was to crack its seal at 9 a.m. Saturday at an official unveiling at the Pleasant Hill Depot, 50 years after it was buried in the front lawn of City Hall during the administration of Gerald Ford. Royals Stadium was just over three years old at that time. The average cost of a gallon of gas was 61 cents. America was celebrating its bicentennial. Apple computers had just been founded.
Only problem is that time had taken its toll on the capsule.
“As the vault was being lifted from the ground, it became apparent just how heavy it was,” the city reported Tuesday on Facebook. “In fact, it was heavy enough that the excavator began to tip.”
Workers on the project suspected the vault “had taken on water.”
‘Full to the top’
It had. Once the vault was secured to a trailer, a hole was drilled into its side.
“Unfortunately, water immediately began flowing from inside the vault,” the city wrote, “indicating that the seal had failed over time.”
The Mound City Vault Company removed the capsule’s lid.
“It was literally full to the top with water,” Nici Wilson, Pleasant Hill assistant city manager, said Wednesday.
Additional holes were drilled. As photos show, water flowed as if from a spigot. The city has called in a preservationist who is now in the midst of recovering and preserving what items she can, spreading them out on tables in a secure area of the Pleasant Hill police department.
“Please know that no items will be discarded,” the city said. Some material has been placed in plastic bags.
A Bible, newspaper stories … and deep emotions
Wilson said the city has a detailed list of what was originally placed in the capsule, but city leaders have decided not to reveal the nature of the items until the salvageable materials have dried.
“We’re not sharing it yet,” Wilson said of the list. “We’re learning through this process that there is some emotion to some of these things. Maybe the folks that left the items in the time capsule are no longer with us. More than likely, we will post the list at some point, but right now we have decided not to just out of respect and honor of the families that had put things in there.”
Wilson said that, in general, some of the items she saw included a Bible from the local United Methodist Church, a couple of bottles of wine, many newspaper articles, some personal letters, lists of family lineages, a couple of dolls “that look a little rough right now.” She said she did not see any electronics or technology or record albums.
“There is a rug, a bicentennial rug from 1976 that the Pleasant Hill Floor Covering, a company at that time, put in there,” Wilson said. “We did see that this morning. It’s very cool looking. The (preservationist) feels like once it dries out and can be cleaned, it obviously probably will not look brand new, but it will look pretty good.”
As of Tuesday, city leaders were still uncertain whether they would still hold an unveiling on Saturday with some materials.
But on Wednesday, Wilson said, “We more than likely are going to postpone it. And so we won’t have any event on Saturday morning.”
The plan, she said, is to hold a separate event later this summer or in the fall.
