It was back in 2014 when a time capsule was discovered buried underneath the Hiker statue at Roosevelt Plaza. The capsule was unearthed during the Main Street Reconstruction Project. It wasn’t long before the contents of the capsule were made public. Now, after more than three years, a new time capsule has been buried under the same statue. The City felt that this Memorial Day Weekend was the perfect time to conduct the ceremony.
During the ceremony, Mayor Brown stated that he felt that the newly added capsule contents would give future Buffalonians a good idea about the time and place where Buffalo is currently, in 2017, as well as a historic viewpoint into the Spanish-American War.
Mayor Brown was joined by members of the City’s Arts Commission, Public Works, Forest Lawn Cemetery, the Buffalo History Museum, and Dave Flowers, a descendent from an infantryman from the Spanish-American War, for the dedication.
The contents of the new time capsule includes photographs of Roosevelt Square as it appears today, copies of the items from original time capsule, a list of Spanish-American War veterans buried at Forest Lawn (along with a map), Theodore Roosevelt memorabilia, photographs of veterans and Women’s Auxiliary of the Spanish-American War, among other significant items.
The “Hiker” (originally installed in 1920) was dedicated to infantry soldiers who fought in the Spanish-American War.
It’s anyone’s guess as to when this time capsule will be discovered in the future. Possibly when cars and Metro Rail become obsolete and Main Street is rezoned as a bike-ped corridor?
Photos: City Hall