Workers Renovating Baltimore’s Washington Monument Found A Centuries-Old Time Capsule Hidden Inside

Strangely enough, the workers had been placing a septic tank into the ground when they made their find. But perhaps they shouldn’t have been too surprised to uncover their treasure. You see, they were working on the side of the monument that’s hit first by the sun in the morning. And based on Masonic ways of thinking, that’s precisely where you’d expect to discover something special hidden away.

What had the laborers found? Well, to begin with, a granite block in the ground. That may not sound all that exciting, but don’t be fooled! This was actually the cornerstone of the monument. And as it happens, there was definitely more to it than immediately met the eye.

Mind you, Lance Humphries was pleased just to hear about the block. He’s the executive director of the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, which seeks to maintain the region’s landmarks. And Humphries justified his excitement by saying to Baltimore’s WBAL, “It’s well known that they laid a cornerstone, but they never actually mentioned where the cornerstone was actually placed in the building. So, it’s pretty neat to have found it.”

The laborers may not have been so thrilled, but they still recognized the cornerstone’s importance. Works on the site were paused, then, so that they could retrieve it manually. And after the guys pulled the block to the surface, they noticed something very strange about the stone. Curiously, it had been hollowed out.

But the block wasn’t empty. To the contrary, in fact. Bundled inside were relics from a distant age – making the whole thing a sort of time capsule. Yes, people from the past had added items they thought would be of interest to future generations. And after two centuries of lying in obscurity, this stone container was about to reveal its centuries-old secrets.

Needless to say, the world in which this cornerstone was first laid was very different from how it is today. The Washington Monument can trace its history as far back as 1810, when inhabitants of Baltimore started to raise money to create a tribute to America’s inaugural president. And as Washington deserved the best, some of the citizens reached out to a suitably important architect: one Maximilian Godefroy.

Despite Godefrey’s undoubted expertise, though, his numerous designs for the planned monument were rejected. That probably came as quite a blow to his pride, and it also took everything back to square one. But the folks at the Baltimore Washington Monument Society had a grand competition in mind. They invited people from across the globe to submit their own plans.

Who won? Well, eventually it was decided that the task of immortalizing the country’s first president should fall to an American. And in 1814 the right man was found for the job: Robert Mills. Mills had been working on numerous different designs, but he eventually settled on a blueprint that was centered around an enormous column jutting into the sky. On top of this pillar, he envisioned, there would also be a statue of George Washington himself.

In a statement related to his design, Mills elaborated on the nature of the column he had drawn up. He claimed that it would “possess solidity and simplicity of character, emblematic of that of the illustrious personage to whose memory it is dedicated [Washington] and harmonizing with the spirit of our government.” But could he really pull that all off?

Well, Mills’ plans were actually quite restrained. That said, he hoped that the column itself would be finely decorated, giving a bit of grandeur to the memorial. The architect also imagined balconies wrapped around the column and a terrace at the peak. Both of these would allow people to see the structure and its surroundings up close.

That was Mills’ vision. But as often happens with construction projects, something had to give. There were concerns about financing, for one, as well as how the completed monument would look. So, Mills’ plans were simplified. The balconies he’d imagined were dropped from the design. All the fine carvings on the surface of the pillar were omitted, too.

Now, there would just be a simple, unpunctuated column with a Washington sculpture on top. And even though an American designer was recruited for the project, it was actually an Italian who designed that statue. Enrico Causici crafted the piece, which was raised in 1829.

Still, the Washington Monument proved to be a huge draw for Baltimore. Yep, folks loved the structure even without the originally planned decoration. And in many ways, the landmark became one of the best-known parts of Baltimore – and gave it its nickname of “The Monumental City.”

When the Washington Monument was being built, it was located beyond the city limits. Over time, though, Baltimore has expanded to the point that the monument is at its heart. And the structure’s importance was officially recognized in 1971. It was then, you see, that the structure was classified as a National Historic Landmark.

But even National Historic Landmarks fall prey to crumbling – especially if they’re nearly 200 years old! In 2010, then, the area around the monument was fenced off for renovation works to help make the structure safer and more robust. According to reports, about $6 million was pumped into this project.

Quite a lot of work was needed in order to restore the landmark to its former glory. Joints had to be tightened so that the whole thing didn’t topple over. Masonry was touched up, too. And that famous statue of Washington didn’t go ignored. It, too, was given a little tender loving care.

That wasn’t all. The light and heating systems at the site were improved, as was the security technology. And, yes, that did affect the overall appearance of the monument. Now, its 19th-century masonry is adorned with contemporary CCTV cameras and alarms – which, let’s face it, does sound a little bizarre.

This contrast is even starker at the bottom of the monument, where a series of touchscreen devices have been installed. The machines are handy, though, as they give visitors background information about the structure. They also pull live feeds from cameras at the monument’s peak, and these provide magnificent views of the city.

As for the renovation works themselves? Well, they were initially scheduled to conclude at the end of 2014. As often happens with big projects, though, keeping on track proved difficult. And Mount Vernon Place Conservancy vice president Faith Millspaugh said as much to the Baltimore Business Journal. Summing the issue up, she told the newspaper in 2015, “You find more problems when you start digging into things.”

Thankfully, the project was finally completed in the middle of 2015 – just in time to celebrate the 200-year anniversary of work on the site beginning. And Millspaugh was understandably pleased with the renovation. She told the Baltimore Business Journal, “The monument has been restored to its original condition – the way it was originally built. They wanted to do everything historically correct[ly].”

So, a success! The monument looked better and, crucially, was also more stable. But, of course, the workers got more than they bargained for when they were busy sprucing up the landmark. We’re talking, of course, about their discovery of the cornerstone time capsule and its very revealing contents.

Just how old was this capsule? Well, pretty much as old as the monument itself. After being packed with items for future generations to discover, the cornerstone had been placed into the ground on July 4, 1815. Apparently, around 30,000 people were there to witness this on the day – although, of course, they never got to see the stone raised again.

It’s no wonder that folks flocked to the event, though, as it was history in the making. And while speaking to Baltimore magazine in 2015, Humphries reflected on the Monumental City’s importance to the U.S. He said, “Baltimore was proud of the role it had played in the War of 1812 and proud to build the first monument to George Washington.”

So, for 200 years, the cornerstone lay undisturbed in the northeast section of the monument. That is, until the renovation workers finally unearthed it from six feet underground. And it proved perfect timing, as it meant the capsule’s contents could be revealed during the site’s bicentennial celebrations.

By now, you’re probably champing at the bit to know what was inside! Well, when the lid of the cornerstone was removed, four jars made of glass were revealed. And each of these was stuffed with various items. For instance, there were a number of newspapers – all of which dated back to the beginning of July 1815. This was around the time that work on the monument got underway, so the people of the period were evidently trying to provide future generations with a sense of their era.

As well as the newspapers, the cornerstone contained an image of George Washington and a copy of one of his earliest speeches as president. Some coins were also inside, as was a copper plate bearing some etchings. All in all, it was nothing too surprising, but it did still help to paint a picture of life in 1815.

Of course, this would’ve been the Baltimore folk’s intentions when they laid the time capsule into the ground. As Humphries put it to Baltimore magazine, “Newspapers and coins were pretty typical of cornerstones and time capsules of the time. [These people] were trying to show us what was going on in the world at that time.”

And Humphries seemed happy that some sculpture was also within the container. While speaking to WBAL, he enthused, “It was amazing to see inside the cornerstone that there was this beautifully carved decorative panel of the stonemasons and the stone carvers from 1815.”

Perhaps most impressively of all, though, the contents of the time capsule all appeared to be in quite good condition. There was evidence of a little water damage, but nothing major. Yes, those glass jars selected all those years ago had done their job exceptionally well.

Maybe it helped that the jars were carefully arranged inside the time capsule. Not only that, but each was apparently themed in a particular way. For instance, one container was very much focused on George Washington. It featured the image of the president, of course, as well as a copy of one of his speeches and a medal bearing his likeness.

Another jar was dedicated to the current affairs of the day – or so we can guess from the copies of the Federal Gazette inside. In a rather neat twist, one of these newspapers – dated July 6, 1815 – actually had a story about the cornerstone being set down! In another container, meanwhile, a Bible from 1812 had been inserted.

But covering all of the jars was a copy of the Declaration of Independence. And this made Humphries sit up and take notice. Why? Well, as he told CNN, “While it is well-known that the monument is the first erected to George Washington, the selection of this item for such a prominent placement adds new meaning to the monument and [increases] its significance.”

Humphries went on to provide some context for the decision to add such an important document. He said, “American national independence was fresh in the minds of Baltimoreans of July 1815. They had just played a key role in [securing] that freedom during the Battle of Baltimore the previous fall.”

And the discovery of this time capsule was a wonderful development for those interested in the history of Baltimore and its Washington Monument. In reality, though, it wasn’t exactly a unique find. You see, just months earlier in October 2014, another time capsule had been found on the very same site.

This second container had been hidden away in 1915 – so, 100 years after the first one. It’d been placed at the back of a bronze plate that had been laid down to mark a century since works on the monument first began. And as with the 1815 capsule, its contents were rather patriotic in nature.

Appropriately, the 1915 stash contained some general items relating to the Washington Monument’s 100-year anniversary. It also had some newspapers inside, as well as a picture of the Declaration of Independence and a painting of Francis Scott Key. Key, in case you’ve forgotten all your history lessons, was the man who penned the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

So, yes, that meant the Washington Monument contained not just one but a pair of time capsules! This wasn’t lost on Humphries, who said in a statement, “Few buildings have two time capsules. These items speak to the antiquity and symbolic importance of the monument in the history of our country.”

And those two time capsules seemed to have been created for different purposes. The one from 1815 appeared to highlight American independence and George Washington himself. The 1915 capsule, on the other hand, focused more on some of the wars and battles of a century beforehand.

But Humphries apparently considered the 1815 time capsule to be the most poignant – largely because of the inclusion of the Declaration of Independence. Speaking to Baltimore magazine about the document, he said, “When you pull that out, you literally feel what [the people] were thinking when they placed those items in that cornerstone. I think it’s revealing, too, that the word ‘Memory’ is engraved a bit deeper than all the rest of the words in the inscription on the original dedication plaque.”

There have been other unexpected peeks into the past, of course. Just ask Gemma Ramirez. Called into a Spanish church as part of a team of art restorers, she and her colleagues are working on a statue depicting Jesus Christ. But in the process of her duties, Ramirez notices something odd. And, eerily, it seems that the figurine also has some secrets to share.

This statue has been damaged in the past, and it’s now bearing the scars. A fissure has opened up on the surface of the figure – and it’s this fracture that has inadvertently led Ramirez to notice something strange. Inside the piece, situated at its core, she can see that something’s hidden away.

At first, Ramirez and a fellow restorer suspect that bugs have eaten into the statue and were now hiding inside. The piece, after all, was made of wood, and it wouldn’t be unheard of for ravenous insects to bore their way through such a material. But upon further inspection, they soon note that they’re looking at something much more significant.

Ramirez and her co-workers are no strangers to working with old art pieces. After all, they’re all employees of a company called Da Vinci Restauro. Situated in the Spanish capital of Madrid, Da Vinci Restauro has spent the last two decades restoring works of art which are of special significance to Spain.

Da Vinci Restauro concerns itself with all sorts of art, be it paintings, antique objects or, indeed, statues. The company was set up in 2000 by Ramirez and Ángeles Comba, both of whom had picked up degrees in fine art. Over the course of their careers, the pair have dealt with many pieces, developing a significant level of expertise along the way.

Of course, Ramirez and Comba aren’t alone in their company. Da Vinci Restauro is home to a wider group of experts, each a specialist in their own field. For instance, some of the team might focus on woodwork, while others might be better equipped to handle the architectural aspect of the business.

To give another example, dealing with paintings is naturally a significant part of what the Da Vinci Restauro team does. The manner with which they approach this task, however, depends on the nature of the piece itself. But regardless of whether the painting is on a canvas, on a board or even on copper, the restoration team claim to have the expertise to handle it.

Similarly, if team members face the prospect of restoring an old building, they should be fine. After all, the group’s collective skillset means they’re capable of touching up surfaces on the inside of a dwelling. And on top of that, they can fix roofs, wall decorations and flooring.

An example of a major restoration project undertaken by the Da Vinci Restauro team can be found at Madrid’s Círculo de Bellas Artes. This cultural center had a number of issues that had developed over time. A staircase, for example, had cracked, and a fountain had itself been split. But the team brought these things back to their former glory.

The experts of Da Vinci Restauro have also tackled the physical deterioration of churches. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, of course, as these buildings are often full of delicate and important artworks. You might, after all, find paintings, statues, and elaborate furnishings and ornaments inside a church.

Things of this nature are worthy of restoration for several reasons. First and foremost, they are often at the heart of a culture. As such, they should be maintained for future generations to enjoy and revere. But there’s also an economic incentive for restorative works, as people might be drawn to a given area to view an important artwork or building.

According to those at Da Vinci Restauro, places such as Spain rely on important artworks. After all, they bring money into the communities where they’re found and, vitally, help to define a place’s identity. With this in mind, then, it’s easy to see how important restoration works can prove to be.

Restorations can breathe a new lease of life into old pieces of art. Paint fades over time, but if skilled restorers get to work on a piece, it can appear like new again. Or if a painting has developed a layer of dirt over the years, cleaning it might reveal a hidden detail, such as an artist’s signature.

However, restoration works aren’t easy, and great care needs to be taken. Ideally, the piece will be interfered with as little as possible. It should still be easy to identify, with the spirit of the initial iteration kept alive and well. As such, the same materials once utilized by the piece’s creator should be used again.

The Da Vinci Restauro team have been restoring artworks for some time now. But in 2017 one of their projects actually brought them attention from the international press. You see, the team were called to get to work on an artifact located at a church in northern Spain’s Sotillo de la Ribera.

The Church of Santa Agueda, as this building is known, is home to a particularly special piece of art. This is a figurine of Jesus Christ which had been constructed out of wood. Known as the Cristo del Miserere, the piece wasn’t in the greatest state before the Da Vinci Restauro restorers were brought in.

You see, time had very much taken its toll on the wooden artifact. For one thing, it was dirty and in need of a good clean. But more serious problems were evident, too. One of the figure’s arms had fractured, and its backside had started to separate from the crucifix to which it was attached.

All of these problems, however, fell well within the abilities of the experts from Da Vinci Restauro. So, they got to work on fixing up the piece. But during the course of this task, Ramirez became aware of something strange. The piece had a crack on its surface – and beyond this crack was something unexpected.

At first, Ramirez thought that she’d perhaps come across some bugs stuffed inside the piece and feasting on the wood. After all, in her line of business she’d surely seen similar things before. But upon closer inspection, she and her colleagues realized that the space behind the crack hadn’t been created by insects.

This hollow had, in fact, apparently been created on purpose. You see, Ramirez and her co-worker discovered that it was actually a secret compartment containing something special. Eventually, they managed to get the thing open so that they could take a peek inside. And when they did, they weren’t left disappointed.

While wooden figurines are often created hollow, this is usually to reduce the chances of the material developing cracks. Inside this particular statue, though, the restorers found a pair of leather parchments which both bore text. This must have come as quite the surprise, as such a discovery is far from ordinary.

It seems that the person who placed the parchments inside the statue intended them to last a long time. After all, they were made out of vellum, a form of leather notable for its endurance. If, on the other hand, the statue had once contained paper pages, it’s unlikely that they would have lasted for long.

But what exactly do we know about these two parchments? Well, as is evident from the yellowish tinge that they’d acquired over the years, the pages are old. In fact, they go back centuries, all the way back to the year 1777. They seem to have been penned by one Joaquín Mínguez, a chaplain who was associated with the Cathedral of El Burgo de Osma.

In the wake of her amazing discovery in 2017, Ramirez spoke to the website of British newspaper the Daily Mail about what had happened. She said, “The document of the 18th century appeared when we were dismantling the Christ of the cross. The wood is hollow inside, and the sculptor introduced the two [scrolls], which we have found.”

Ramirez has undoubtedly seen some wonderful artistic works throughout the course of her career. But this discovery must surely rank up there as one of the most surprising. After all, secret messages don’t emerge out of the blue all too often. But what exactly was the nature of these letters and what did they actually say?

Well, one aspect of the letters’ content focuses on the culture of the time and place in which the statue was made. In another part, the writer Mínguez explains that the figurine was constructed by a person by the name of Manuel Bal. And it’s also stated that Bal had also made similar pieces for other religious institutions located in the nearby area.

The scrolls also contain references to the nature of the Spanish economy from around Mínguez’s time. He even goes into detail about what sorts of food was being produced in his region. For instance, he mentions that grains such oats, barley, wheat and rye were all grown. Furthermore, the writer alludes to wine in the region, too.

In his letter, Mínguez also discusses more harrowing aspects of living during his time. He specifically mentions illnesses and infections which were prevalent in his area, things like typhoid fever. However, he balances this grim subject by mentioning the things that people did for leisure, such as playing cards or ball games.

In terms of the political landscape of the period, Mínguez explains that the court system was centered in the city of Madrid. And he also lets his readers know who was in charge of Spain at the time of writing. Namely, he mentions King Carlos III, who ruled Spain for almost three decades beginning in 1759.

In addition to ruling Spain, Carlos had also been the King of Naples between 1734 and 1759. Nowadays, Carlos has been termed by some as an “enlightened despot.” This is a reference to the fact that he led Spain through something of a short-lived rejuvenation of its culture and economy.

Mínguez’s letter also includes a reference to the Spanish Inquisition, a significant historical phenomenon which spanned more than three-and-a-half-centuries, from 1478 to 1834. Not specifically centered on Spain, the wider Inquisition was an arm of the Catholic Church which sought to locate and crack down on people in Europe and America that were opposed to its teachings and practices.

Nowadays, the Inquisition is known for the brutality of its nature, especially in relation to its treatment of followers of Islam and Judaism. It was perhaps at its worst in Spain, where the Spanish Inquisition operated for centuries. By its end, a posited figure of 32,000 people had been killed as a result of its campaign.

Given that the scrolls mentioned such important aspects of Spanish history, we can say that they were a significant historical find. Indeed, the notes paint a rather vivid idea of what life was once like. And the specific nature of the scrolls and the hidden compartment themselves can tell us something else, too.

A historian named Efren Arroyo spoke to a Spanish newspaper called El Pais to explain more. According to Arroyo, it seems that the chaplain Minguez had wanted to pass along information about his time and place to people in the future. In other words, the Jesus statue had been utilized as a time capsule.

Time capsules are vessels containing collections of artifacts or documents related to the time in which the capsule was created. People create these things in order to communicate with people in the future, hoping to give them a glimpse of what life was like in the past. Sometimes time capsules are buried, but as we can see from this story, they can be hidden away in more creative ways.

In his chat with El Pais, Arroyo also noted that this time capsule found in the Spanish church was quite surprising. “Although it is usual for many sculptures to be hollow, it is not so much to find handwritten documents inside,” he said. “It is amazing because it really is unique to find hidden handwritten documents inside such statues.”

After they were discovered by the Da Vinci Restauro team, the two scrolls had to be dealt with in some way. So, rather than being simply put back in place inside the capsule, they were removed. Then, they were transferred to the Archbishop of Burgos, with the intention that they would be placed inside an archive.

However, the team at Da Vinci Restauro wanted to honor Minguez’s original intentions. So, being careful to use the appropriate materials, they fashioned two replicas of the scrolls. These were then put back inside the time capsule, alongside a note which they’d penned themselves. This detailed life in our own times.

This note detailing contemporary life is a gesture which hopefully will be appreciated by people in the future. After all, Minguez’s note offered us a glimpse into his time, and so now our descendants might appreciate the same opportunity with regard to our period. In any case, the figurine and the notes it contains are now in place inside the Church of Santa Agueda.

The authenticity of Minguez’s scrolls and their contents has yet to be officially verified. But if it turns out that they’re genuine, then they’re clearly invaluable historical documents. They provide a first-hand account of what life was once like hundreds of years ago – and it’s not every day that such a chronicle presents itself to history-lovers.