Capsule Yields a Glimpse of Escondido Life in 1938
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Escondido caught up with time Wednesday, successfully locating a container in its soon-to-be-demolished City Hall that was filled with memorabilia of a bygone era.
It took city workers using an electric jackhammer just five minutes or so to get to the time capsule, situated just where they thought it would be, behind a plaque in what was an original cornerstone of the 50-year-old building.
Among the contents:
- A copy of the Escondido High School yearbook, The Gong.
- The signatures of Escondido’s charter citizens, who were living in the city 50 years earlier when it incorporated.
- Coins and stamps, to be turned over to the Boy Scouts of America at the request of the original donor.
- Rosters listing the members of civic groups in town.
- A map of the city, and an accompanying business guide.
- Copies of the town newspaper, the Advocate, dating back to 1908.
- A list naming every resident of the city in 1938, as well as the San Diego County Directory of 1887.
- Photographs, including one of the 1915 volunteer Escondido Fire Department.
The time capsule wasn’t a cast-iron pipe, as had been expected, but a copper box that workers cut open with a power hand tool.
The contents will be put on public display in Escondido’s new City Hall.
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