Today, the Naval War College Museum announced that it would unearth a time capsule buried on museum grounds in 1924 to commemorate the founding of the City of Newport.
In 1924, the then-Naval Training Station (now Naval Station Newport) celebrated the 285th anniversary of Newport’s founding by Nicholas Easton. Easton and his sons arrived on Coasters Harbor Island in 1639 before moving to Aquidneck Island, marking the official birth of the city.
According to the Naval War College Museum, a grand ceremony in 1924, attended by dignitaries and descendants of Nicholas Easton, celebrated the burial of a time capsule underneath the Settlers Stone, a boulder on the museum’s front lawn inset with a bronze plaque marking the historic 1639 event.
Based on a 1924 inventory, the capsule is believed to hold artifacts such as:
• A blueprint of the Naval Station
• Coins and stamps from the era
• Sawdust from a timber of Oliver Hazard Perry’s flagship, USS Lawrence
• Bulletins from the Newport Historical Society
• A piece of the first commercial airplane servicing the New York-Newport route in 1923 • Photographs, including one of Theodore Roosevelt visiting the naval station and another showcasing the naval station from USS Shenandoah, the first successful Zeppelin of the United States
• and more
“The unearthing of this time capsule presents a momentous opportunity,” said Ryan Meyer, Director of the Naval War College Museum. “It offers a unique chance to connect with the past, understand the aspirations of those who came before us, and learn more about the longstanding relationship between Newport and the Navy.”
The Founders Stone sitting atop the buried time capsule will be removed on Saturday, June 22, 2024, and the time capsule will be extracted from the ground on Monday, June 24, 2024.
The Naval War College Museum plans to meticulously document and conserve the time capsule’s contents before putting them on display for the public. A special exhibition highlighting the capsule and its contents is planned for Salute to Summer (August 24, 2024), a free, family-friendly concert and fireworks event on Naval Station Newport that is open to the public and attended by thousands of locals and visitors to the Newport area.
