Melquiades De La Cruz, a visitor from the Philippines, left, tours the microfilm vault of the National Storage Company near Boyers on Aug. 7, 1970. Explaining the system are Wayne E. Waddington, who works with civil service operations in the mine, center, and David Sansom, the manager of the National Storage Company. Butler Eagle file photo

A man from the Philippines visited the National Storage Company near Boyers in August 1970 to learn about record storage management for the Philippines Records Office.

Melquiades “Mel” De La Cruz said he was impressed by the northern Butler County facility, which stored records for more than 600 local and international companies in a 11-acre former limestone mine. The tunnels of the mine had been transformed into a typical business office.

“I am amazed to see that such a facility can be made into a working office, or even a house, if you want,” De La Cruz said.

De La Cruz hoped to be able to help the Philippines Records Office set up a national records center.