The oldest known time capsule in the United States was stashed away in 1795 by two of the most famous figures from the American Revolution, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. After the war, Adams served as governor of Massachusetts and presided over the construction of a new State House in Boston. When the cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1795, the ceremony included burying a copper box containing coins, a medal depicting George Washington and a commemorative silver plaque engraved by Revere. The priceless cache was first unearthed in 1855 and again in 2014. Both times, new items were added before reburying the capsule.
What was inside the original time capsule?
The original time capsule buried by Adams and Revere in 1795 contained 11 coins, each with historic significance to the new nation. The oldest coin was a 1665 Pine Tree Shilling, the first coin minted in colonial Massachusetts in defiance of the English government. Another coin was a 1787 New Jersey cent, the first American money stamped with the motto “E Pluribus Unum.”
The original time capsule also contained a small commemorative medal bearing an image of Washington, who was president in 1795, and a silver plaque commemorating the laying of the State House cornerstone on the 20th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The plaque bore the names of Adams, Revere and William Scollay, a Revolutionary War colonel.
What was added to the time capsule in 1855?
In 1855, the time capsule was unearthed by workers making emergency repairs to the Massachusetts State House foundation. Officials added 12 more coins to the copper box, plus pages from five of Boston’s leading newspapers and official state documents. The time capsule was resealed in plaster and remained untouched for nearly 160 years.
Why was the time capsule extracted in 2014?
In 2014, an engineering firm was hired to repair water damage to the State House foundation. Before excavating the site, technicians used ground-penetrating radar to locate the time capsule, whose existence was documented in historical accounts. Conservators took seven hours to carefully extract the fragile copper box and bring it to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where its well-preserved contents were put on display.
The 220-year-old time capsule was reburied in 2015 under the State House cornerstone along with two new additions: an engraved silver plate and a full set of 2015 coins from the U.S. Mint.
