New Bedford Standard-Times Time Capsule Buried at City Park

Near the center of New Bedford's Clasky Common Park is a time capsule buried by the New Bedford Standard-Times eight years before I was born. I was born a long time ago, in 1958.

How do I know this? I stumbled upon it – literally.

I was walking through the park one afternoon researching an article I was working on about who the Clasky is in Clasky Common Park.

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The Common Park was founded in 1822 and renamed the Clasky Common Park after former New Bedford City Councilor and Massachusetts State Senator Harold H.J. Clasky in 1969.

As I was walking to my car, I nearly tripped over a cement plaque in the grass proclaiming to be the burial site of a time capsule stashed away in 1950. The writing on the plaque indicates the time capsule should be opened in 2050, 100 years after being placed in the ground.

I rushed back to the office to research what might be in the time capsule, but no luck.

I found a 2014 Standard-Times article by reporter Steve Urbon who claims to have forgotten what is in the time capsule.

"The contents, believe me, were as dull as dishwater, stuff thrown in by the business and political leaders with not much there about the common man," Urbon wrote.

Perhaps what amazes me most is that the time capsule has remained buried in the park after all this time without anyone digging it up.

I suppose we'll just have to wait until 2050 to find out what is in the time capsule.