1976 Time Capsule Unearthed At Niles’ Westside School

A time capsule buried at Westside School in Niles has finally seen the light of day, 18 years after it was supposed to have been dug up. Niles Community Schools Superintendent Dr. Dan Applegate says those who were in 6th grade at the school buried it in 1976, and dug it up Friday afternoon.

“They found a list of student names, kind of a scroll. It was in a Mason jar sealed in clay,” said Applegate. “We also found an old newspaper.”

Those students were part of the class of 1982. Dr. Applegate says the death of one of them who had been involved in the time capsule helped prompt the others to want to see what they buried along with the fact Westside School is now an administration building and is on the market to be sold.

“With all the renovations in the buildings across the district, we’ve come across a lot of interest things that just been hidden and stored away, and here’s something that was actually buried that we never would have found.”

Applegate says there were rumors and stories of what else might be in there, but it was just the scroll of names and the newspaper. Still, he says it was a pretty cool thing to dig up.