(Radio Iowa) – A time capsule from the cornerstone of a former northeast Iowa church was recently opened to reveal contents that haven’t been seen in nearly a dozen decades. Delaware County Historical Society President Craig Lange says the copper box was salvaged after the Presbyterian Church in Hopkinton was torn down. Lange says the box was placed in the cornerstone 119 years ago. “Some artifacts were still intact in it, a copy of the Delaware County Historical Leader, the Chicago Record Herald, Lenox College days book was still somewhat intact,” Lange says. “Everything else inside of it, unfortunately, has deteriorated over the time.”

The church’s bell was also rescued and that will be incorporated into a new display at the museum. “I want to make a cement box that has brick around the outside from the church,” Lange says. “Hopefully, inside the cement box, we can put a vault in and start a new time capsule. Then we’ll have limestone slabs from the church on top of it, with the bell sitting on top of that.”

Lange says the old church was a big part of the Hopkinton community, so it’s nice that part of it will still remain at the Lenox College campus.