SEAL BEACH : Time Capsule Offers Glimpse Into Past

Workers completing seismic retrofitting of one of the city’s oldest buildings came upon it by accident last month: a foot-long copper box that has provided an unexpected looking glass into the city’s past.

The box contains a time capsule placed below the two-story brick building when the structure was completed in 1922.

Inside, workers found letters, papers and photographs. The contents have little material value, but those who have examined the items said they are local historical gems.

“It’s really pretty fascinating to look at this stuff,” said Paul Motenko, co-owner of the new Italian restaurant that occupies the building. “Seal Beach has so much historical character. And you have a lot of people who have lived here 20 or 40 years and know about the history. It’s very fitting to have this here.”

BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria opened its door Thursday by officially unveiling the time capsule to the public. The restaurant plans to eventually place the capsule on permanent display, Motenko said.

The box contains rare photography of Main Street in 1922. Now a bustlingshopping district, the Main Street depicted in the photo is nearly free of buildings, except for the masonry structure where the capsule was found.

“This was the first major building on Main Street,” Motenko said. “The building was all alone there on the street. It’s pretty amazing.”

The building originally housed a bank, and the capsule includes assorted banking materials such as original loan papers and financial records.

Also contained in the box is a handwritten letter from a man asking for a job at the bank.

“It was written with beautiful penmanship with a fountain pen. It’s the kind of English you don’t see today,” Motenko said. “At the end of the letter, he said he would be expecting a salary of $100 per month.”

The box was found by workers digging six feet beneath the building to lay seismic posts. “They were digging into the ground, and all of a sudden the jackhammer hit metal,” Motenko said. “Sure enough, there it was.”

It is unclear who placed the capsule there.

Just days after the box was found, workers redesigning the old Masonic lodge, also on Main Street, came upon something else: an urn containing the remains of the city’s first mayor, R.E. Dolley.