Seattle salvage company finds time capsule at site of now-demolished church in Queen Anne

A Seattle construction company hired to remove so much historic architecture from a former German evangelical Church in Queen Anne an unexpected find before it was demolished this summer: a small time capsule dating from 1906, the year the church was built.

Aaron Blanchard, Director of Operations for Earthwise Arcitectural Salvage, said staff were hired to conduct a salvage assessment by running the old church at 165 Valley St.

“We’re trying to find and save so many things that we can sell,” Blanchard said, adding that his company usually rescues items from old residences but has more abandoned churches like the one in Queen Anne.

The goal is to keep as many things as possible out of landfills.

“The company’s owner calls it the building’s CSI. We’re just nerd out, ”said Blanchard.

Blanchard said towards the end of the two week recovery, his crew dug around some blackberry bushes and found the cornerstone of the church, which they were pleased to see, not just because cornerstones are rarely left behind, but because they sometimes hid things like time capsules.

“All we knew was that behind an old church and cornerstone, there was often a time capsule,” said Blanchard.

He said this was the first time his crew had found a time capsule or found and removed a corner stone from a church.

“We knew we were the last hope that this would be saved,” said Blanchard.

According to information from Earthwise Architectural Salvage about the history of the church, Evangelical United Brethren Church bought the site of the former church at the turn of the 19th century.

According to Earthwise information, the Evangelical Auditorium was built in 1906 for $ 17,000.

The church, which Blanchard estimated at around 4,500 square meters, was designed for 600 people and offered services in German and English, with an emphasis on bringing young people to church.

Her first pastors were TR Hornschuch, who preached in English, and F. Benz, who preached in German.

The building, which has now been demolished, has actually not been a church for some time, said Blanchard.

The building was last used for advisory services in 1970, and the previous owners of the building likely didn’t know about the cornerstone or time capsule, which is why it never opened. In the summer, the building was demolished to make room for affordable housing.

Blanchard said while the cornerstone and time capsule came as a surprise, the contents weren’t made up of documents and other items from the period.

However, that doesn’t mean they weren’t excited.

“We were dizzy,” said Blanchard. “We were like little children getting upset.”

The time capsule actually consists of a copper box, which, according to Earthwise, is ideal for time capsules because it does not rust.

When the Earthwise crew opened the box, they found:

The Evangelical Messenger, a newspaper publication November 21, 1906;

The Christian Child Friend, a children’s newspaper dated Sept. 30, 1906;

The Missionary Messenger, a journal of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society;

A Sunday school quarterly book in German with songs, biblical topics, advice and more;

The Evangelical Herald, published November 1, 1906;

The Evangelical Magazine, printed in German, January 1906;

Der Christliche Bote, printed in December 1906, in German;

1906 Oregon Conference Evangelical Association Minutes;

A book of German Protestant hymns;

An English Bible from 1898 with Old and New Testaments translated from “Original Languages;

A Church Donation Directory listing the names of those who donated to the Church building, a total of $ 205, or about $ 6,000 today;

A copy of the Protestant teaching in German;

A letter about incoming payments and the prospect of the Church’s location.

The time capsule and other items from the old church are available through September 12, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm seven days a week at Earthwise, 3447 Fourth Ave. S., for the public to see.

Blanchard said that ideally, after the display is dismantled, he would like to donate the time capsule and its contents as the items, while not having monetary value, could be of interest to a museum or other organization.