Time capsule discovered inside Minnesota's oldest standing structure
Time capsule discovered inside Minnesota's oldest standing structure
Workers restoring Fort Snelling's Round Tower made an unexpected discovery earlier this year: a time capsule sealed inside a six-foot-thick wall, untouched for decades.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Workers restoring Fort Snelling's Round Tower made an unexpected discovery earlier this year: a time capsule sealed inside a six-foot-thick wall, untouched for decades.
A hidden piece of history
What we know:
Fort Snelling has stood since 1820, making it Minnesota's oldest standing structure. During peak restoration work to rebuild the Round Tower brick by brick earlier this year, construction crews uncovered a time capsule buried deep inside the wall.
"It was definitely a surprise, because as I said, we had no records of it," said Brian Liesinger.
After some research, staff traced the capsule back to 1970 — the last time a major renovation of the tower took place. That year also marked the fort's 150th anniversary.
"So 1970 was the 150th anniversary of the fort. And so they actually had a year of celebrations for that and they capped it off with this ceremony to install, we found out later, to install this time capsule in the cornerstone," said Liesinger.
Marais Bjornberg, Senior Director of Capital Planning and Archaeology, said the team was eager to see what was inside.
"It took a little bit of time, but we were all very anxious and excited to finally like get to the point of opening it," said Bjornberg.
Paying the surprise forward
The backstory:
After going through the reports and marketing materials found inside the original capsule, current Fort Snelling staff decided to create a new one for the future. Several items were selected, including a photo of the Fort Snelling team and a pin celebrating America's 250th year.
One item stands out as both a piece of history and a bit of a science experiment: hardtack, along with the recipe to make more.
"Hard tack was a basic ration for many years in the U.S. Army. It's a very simple, it's basically dried out bread. It's stale bread that would keep for months and months and in fact years on end that soldiers would carry around," said Liesinger. "Often too hard to chew itself. You kind of have to reconstitute it with some water, liquid. But yeah, it was a basically ration for years in the U.S. Army, not pleasant, but I guess it kept you marching."
A few additional items were also placed inside the capsule, though they're being kept under wraps to preserve the surprise for whomever finds it next.
What we don't know:
The new 2026 time capsule has been sealed back inside the Round Tower wall. It's unclear when — or if — it will ever be found again.
"That's the challenge. You don't know who's going to open it and when," a staff member said.
For the history lovers at Fort Snelling, that uncertainty is all part of the appeal.
"Fort Snelling has been here since 1820 when construction started. So yeah, there's a lot to think about to go into a 2026 time capsule," said Liesinger.
The restoration work on the Round Tower is almost complete, and expected to reopen to the public in early October.
The Source: This story uses information gathered by FOX 9 reporter Leah Beno.