Owatonna’s capsule into history

April 26, 2024

Director of facilities Bob Olson shows a coin inside the time capsule.

On Monday, April. 22 the Owatonna Public Schools gathered together and hosted a press conference to open a century old time capsule that was found during the demolition of the old Owatonna High School. The old Owatonna High School was officially opened in 1921, but the time capsule itself contained remnants from the year of 1920.

This finding of the time capsule was announced in the Owatonna Public Schools social media pages and sparked the interest of many Owatonna community members. As well as announcing the finding, a press conference was set up to unveil the time capsule. The press conference was open to the public and livestremend on Youtube. With this conference Owatonna Public schools encouraged locals to come be a part of the opening and join them in viewing Owatonna history. As the press conference came closer excitement around the town seemed to grow, leaving the question of what could be in that capsule?

The time capsule unveiling was held in Crandall Centers Chambers with director of facilities Bob Olson uncovering each one of the remnants inside the time capsule. Some remnants inside included a copy of one of the first OHS Magnet articles, enrolment documents, newspaper articles, a book written in Czech and many more papers. Bob Olson said, “I really thought the rosters of all the staff members that were at the current schools was neat to see. In one of the documents there was one country school and they had like two employees. It was a really small country school and they probably had eight or 10 Kids.” These documents allowed locals to see how much the town had changed and grown throughout the years.

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Watching the opening of the time capsule in person was a very cool experience. There were newspapers in the capsule from 1920 that had interesting articles and it was fun to read the stories.

— Calista Seilar

Not only did the time capsule allow the town to see what Owatonna looked like before, but it also brought the community together. Senior Calista Seiler said, “Watching the opening of the time capsule in person was a very cool experience. There were newspapers in the capsule from 1920 that had interesting articles and it was fun to read the stories.” This event really helped open a time capsule into Owatonna History and highlighted really how far this town has come.

All remnants will be stored and restored by the Steele County Historical Society and OHS Museum.

About the Contributors

Jose Rosas, Editor-in-Chief

Jose Rosas is a senior at the OHS this year. This is his third year in Magnet. He joined because he enjoyed journalism his freshman year and thought Magnet would be a fun learning experience. Outside of school, Rosas is involved in DECA, BBBS, SHOC, Link Crew, Owatonna Thriving Minds, student of the month and soccer. Rosas hobbies include spending time with friends and family, spending time outside and working on a couple of projects. Rosas future plans include finishing high school and going to a four year college to pursue a degree in Bio-Medical engineering. Rosas is looking forward to an awesome year of Magnet.

Jace Forcelle, Editor

Jace Forcelle is a senior at Owatonna High School. Furthermore, this is his second year in Magnet. Independent of Magnet, Forcelle is a student school board representative for the Owatonna School Board and a captain of the Owatonna Speech Team. Besides academics, Forcelle is invested in the field of philosophy, history and theology. He is interested in pursuing history at undergraduate level through a four year university.