In 1916, Sept. 19 marked a special day in Baker City — a day recorded by The Baker Herald as when “Corner stone of most beautiful building in Eastern Oregon laid.”

That newspaper, along with an issue of the Morning Democrat, was preserved in a time capsule inside the cornerstone of the Central Building, which was destroyed by fire on May 22, 2024, and demolished in July and August.

The cornerstone, engraved with “Erected 1916” on one side and a lamp on the other, now sits in front of the Baker Heritage Museum. It, along with the contents of the capsule, are on loan to the museum from the Baker School District.

The school board, in a regular meeting on Nov. 19, voted to loan the items to the museum for at least one year.

The capsule, a metal box, was recovered by Dave and Joyce Hunsaker, who volunteer with the museum. Upon discovering that several inches of water had leaked inside, the Hunsakers sought preservation advice and froze three yearbooks that were saturated — a 1916 BHS Rosemary, a 1904 BHS Nugget and the 1916 Commencement Nugget.

“We are so grateful that these important historical items were able to be saved,” Andrew Bryan, a board member, said in a press release. “Many thanks to the Hunsakers and Baker Heritage Museum. We look forward to sharing them with our community via a future exhibit at the museum.”

Other contents were not damaged by water.

Among the preserved treasures is a handwritten list of the stone cutters who worked on the school, as well as a 1916 issue of The Stonecutters’ Journal. Other items include business cards and signed pieces of paper, a 1916 map of Eastern Oregon Mines, list of premiums from the 1916 Baker County Fair Association and a political pin for Charles Hughes, who lost the presidential election to Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

The items will be exhibited at the museum in a future display, said Lynn Weems, museum director. The yearbooks damaged by water will require extra preservation work.