Buttons, horse hair found inside 1894 time capsule removed from NC Confederate monument

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Archaeologists and conservators opened a time capsule from 1894 on Thursday that was found beneath the cornerstone of the Confederate Soldiers Monument on Union Square in Raleigh.

Experts with the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said the box itself had rusted through in places – leaving the items inside “severely damaged by the elements.”

A clipping from the Charlotte Democrats’ May 25, 1894 edition listed the items placed in the time capsule.

“Items recovered so far include a wooden box, a stone thought to be from Gettysburg, two buttons attached to a piece of textile and a strand of what appears to be horse hair,” NCDNR said in a release.

Conservators are now working on preserving the items and the metal box.

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