Of the many tasks a mason can be called upon to perform, few are as unique or steeped in history as being asked to reach back in time. In May 2024, at Ogden’s historic Union Station, our team at Abstract Masonry was awarded that rare privilege. We were entrusted with the delicate and historic task of carefully excavating a 100-year-old time capsule from the building’s cornerstone, a pivotal role in a moment of public fascination and historical rediscovery.
This wasn’t a job of construction, but one of careful deconstruction; a surgical operation on a living piece of history. As Ogden prepared to celebrate the centennial of its iconic station, we were the skilled hands chosen to help bring a piece of its past into the light.
A Stage Set by History
Ogden’s Union Station is more than just a building; it’s a monument to the ambition and spirit of a city that was once a bustling crossroads of the American West. As Hope Eggett, curator of Museums at Union Station, noted during the event, the building “is a symbol of the hope and the opportunity that leaders in 1924 saw in the station and the hope and the opportunity that is still surrounding the station today.”
On May 31st, 2024—exactly 100 years to the day it was placed—a crowd gathered to witness the unsealing of a message from those very leaders. The sealed copper box, hidden within an exterior corner of the station, held the promise of a direct link to the city’s past. But before the coppersmiths could open the box, before historians could handle the artifacts, and before the public could marvel at its contents, a crucial first step was required. The time capsule had to be freed from its century-long embrace of brick and mortar, and that’s where our story begins.
The Mason’s Touch: Precision in Historic Masonry
Excavating a 100-year-old artifact from a historic landmark is a task that demands far more than brute force. It is a challenge that lies at the heart of historic masonry, requiring precision, historical sensitivity, and a profound respect for the integrity of the century-old structure. This was our mission. In front of a live audience, our expert masons approached the cornerstone not with demolition tools, but with the careful hands of a surgeon.
Each brick surrounding the copper box was a piece of the building’s story. Our job was to carefully remove them one by one, ensuring that the surrounding masonry remained stable and undamaged. We analyzed the mortar, understood the brick bond, and planned our approach to minimize any impact on the historic edifice. This delicate operation was a testament to the core principles of our craft: patience, foresight, and a deep understanding of how structures live and breathe over time.
As we meticulously worked, the sealed copper box was slowly revealed. We were, in a very real sense, the first people to lay hands on this piece of history since it was sealed away a century ago. It was a profound honor to know that our skill was the key that would unlock this window to the past, allowing for the safe removal and subsequent opening of the capsule.
Unsealing a Century: A Trove of Treasures
Once freed from the cornerstone, the box was taken inside the station’s Browning Theater, where a team of experts prepared to reveal its contents. As the copper was carefully cut away, the crowd of nearly 300 people looked on with bated breath. The first glimpse inside revealed that the items were in phenomenal shape, perfectly preserved for 100 years.
What emerged was a vivid snapshot of Ogden in 1924. There were railroad timetables from an era when Union Station was a vital artery of transcontinental travel, serving dozens of trains a day. Local historian Charlie Trentelman remarked that the station then was like an airport and is now a hub of constant motion.
Next came several newspapers: copies of the Ogden Standard-Examiner, the Salt Lake Tribune, and the Deseret News. The headlines themselves were a history lesson, with one declaring, “Families wiped out by storm,” while another, which drew a laugh from the crowd, read, “Supposed kidnapped girl merely avoiding school.”
The box also contained a wealth of artifacts that spoke to the city’s civic pride:
- A button proudly stating, “You can’t get anywhere without coming to Ogden.”
- A 1923 Monroe Doctrine centennial half dollar.
- Promotional documents from the Ogden Chamber of Commerce.
- Photos of Ogden landmarks, including the long-gone Hermitage Hotel and the Ogden Exchange Building from the city’s booming stockyard days.
Each item, carefully handled with white gloves by the curation team, was a voice from the past, telling a story of a city on the move. And we at Abstract Masonry were proud to have set the stage for their story to be heard.
Historic Masonry: Paving the Way for the Next 100 Years
The story doesn’t end here. The artifacts will be cataloged and displayed, and city officials are already planning to place a new time capsule in the now-vacant cornerstone space. This new capsule, set to be installed during the station’s formal dedication anniversary in November, will carry messages from our time forward to the citizens of Ogden in 2124.
The space we so carefully opened will not remain empty. It will soon be sealed again, entrusted with a new generation of memories. Our work was not just about uncovering the past, but also about preparing this historic structure to carry a new legacy into the future.
This project was a powerful reminder that our work is more than just building walls. The art of historic masonry is about creating enduring structures, preserving historical integrity, and, sometimes, being the careful hands that connect one generation to the next.
For a detailed account of the event and the items found inside the time capsule, you can read the full story from KSL here: 100-year-old time capsule at Ogden’s Union Station yields train timetables, newspapers, pictures.
Whether your project involves preserving a century-old landmark or building a new one for the ages, it deserves the same level of precision, care, and historical sensitivity. Contact Abstract Masonry today to entrust your vision to our skilled hands.