Time capsule from the Roaring ’20s unsealed in Aurora

The city of Aurora held a journey back in time on Saturday with the unsealing of a time capsule that was more than 100 years old.

The time capsule was found just before the emergency demolition of the historic Lincoln Masonic Temple at Benton and Lincoln streets in Aurora, which took place in 2019 following a three-alarm fire there, city officials said.

On Saturday, visitors gathered in the plaza outside the Grand Army of the Republic Military Museum in downtown Aurora to witness the opening of the time capsule.

Jon Zaghloul, director of communications for the city of Aurora, said the discovery of the time capsule was fortuitous because it was just before the Masonic Temple was torn down.

The building was erected between 1921 and 1924, and the time capsule is estimated to date back to that period, officials said.

Zaghloul said opening the time capsule opens a window into Aurora’s past.

“I think it’s extraordinary,” he said. “It’s pretty remarkable from an historical perspective to have on hand a 100-year-plus time capsule and then get to unveil it to the public.”

The opening took place in front of an estimated crowd of nearly 100 who packed the plaza and sidewalks along Downer Place near the G.A.R. Museum. It took at least 10 minutes for three people who took turns with a chisel and a hammer to pry open the lid.

Once pried open, reams of paper gave way to a tube containing blueprints and small books featuring Masonic by-laws, a temple manual from 1884, by-laws from another Masonic lodge in Aurora, manuals from 1897 and 1922, and a Mason’s apron.

Kevin Hoover of Aurora, a Freemason and member of Jerusalem Temple Lodge 90, was one of the three who worked to open the time capsule. He declared the contents “as history.”

“Everyone was eager to see what was inside,” Hoover said. “There’s a certain amount of destiny that this was found and not destroyed. I think fate is the determining factor. It was a strange chain of events that led to this.”

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.