Time capsule contents revealed after devastating historic church fire

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A fire that destroyed a South End historical church is shedding some light on the past. A time capsule was recovered from the cornerstone of the building and NEWS10 spoke with area historians to learn more about what’s inside the box.

“Over 200 years, you know, where it was built as a German church, there's no longer a large German population down here. And it was taken over by an African American congregation, which really shows the changing history of the city,” said Tony Opalka, Albany City Historian.

It was just over two weeks ago when nearly everything was lost in a devastating fire at the Elijah Missionary Baptist Church, but there was one unique item that was rescued from the ashes. City crews removed the hidden time capsule from the cornerstone of the church. Bishop Avery Comithier says people came from all over the country. “Either their grandparents or great grandparents, you know, were here and they had their first communion, or their ancestors were here and so they wanted to be here when they opened it. Of them, were kids to see if their relatives’ names were, you know, in there from way back,” said Comithier.

Albany County Historian, Jack McEneny and Albany City Historian, Tony Opalka both agree, the contents inside this capsule is priceless. “I think its value is that it's a piece of German Albany and that's irreplaceable,” said McEneny.

“These are things that probably exist nowhere else. You know, I think every church probably, you know, you know, thankfully this was not destroyed,” stated Opalka.

The most important find in the box, as McEneny explained to NEWS10’s Reporter, James De La Fuente, is something that at the time was being destroyed across the country. “And over the years with World War II coming and with all of the bad publicity that came after that, a lot of German newspapers were just thrown out. There was a lot of that discrimination against Germans and German Americans, and a lot of things that should have been kept and archived weren’t.”

When De La Fuente first met with McEneny after the church fire to discuss the capsule, McEneny said he would be surprised not to find civil war related items.  “There's a parade to go from the first German Catholic Church, there's a parade to go to the new one for the ceremony.  And who's marching? It's the local colonel who fought in the regiment of the 25th Regiment, during the Civil War.”

There were other important documents found in the time capsule, as well. “We have a little bit of an idea of what happened as far as the financial situation, because they have names of people who pledged,” explained Opalka.

Also, there were German coins, a three cent U.S. coin and even a cigar. With the help of the historians, Bishop Comithier hopes to find the real value of the items and place them in the hands of someone that will take care of them. “My main thing is, is to preserve. It's almost like the police, you know? To preserve and protect. So, I want to preserve, and I want to protect. And wherever it goes, I would like to see it remain within the confines of Albany,” finished Bishop Avery Comithier.