100-year-old time capsule found at Minnesota high school during demolition

In what Superintendent Jeff Elstad called a “historic event for our community,” a time capsule more than a century old was discovered during the demolition of a former high school in Owatonna, Minnesota. The contents of the capsule were revealed for the first time during a press conference this week.

Bob Olson, director of facilities, infrastructure and security for Owatonna Public Schools, said at the event that the capsule was discovered while an old school was being demolished. According to the Owatonna People’s Press, this was the old Owatonna High School which was erected in 1921.

Olson said he asked construction crew members during demolition to “nicely and carefully” remove a cornerstone because they wanted to preserve it somewhere in the new district office or in a new secondary school. Inside this first stone, laid on September 30, 1920, was the time capsule.

And inside was a vast collection – and a typed list of everything in it. Among the items were a copy of an early volume of the high school’s student newspaper, reports from the finance committee, a list of mayors and city reporters, numerous articles from the Minnesota Freemasons, and even a booklet written in Czech.

There was even information about the school at the time. Enrollment, according to discovered documents, was only 327 students in 1920.

“Today we have over 1,500 students at Owatonna High School,” Elstad said. “So we grew.”

Elstad said they will identify which documents in the capsule have “a direct connection to the school district.” The items will be preserved, with the hope that some of them can be displayed at the new school district office and high school. The Steele County Historical Society will also take some of the items for preservation and display.