Time capsule opened at Prospect Bicentennial shows borough life 50 years ago
PROSPECT — As community librarian, Suzanne Adams pointed to photos of historical community buildings unearthed in the borough’s time capsule from 1975, most children looking on commented how the town looks mostly the same.
The Moraine Elementary parking lot was full of children with face paintings, costume characters, loud music and delicious smells from local vendors to celebrate Prospect’s bicentennial Saturday, May 24.
“One nice thing about Prospect is it kind of doesn’t change a lot because it’s that nice small town,” Adams said.
The day featured children’s activities like a bounce house and vendors with activities at 3 p.m., the borough’s Memorial Day parade at 4 p.m., the opening of a time capsule from 1975 at 6:30 p.m. at the Prospect Community Library and fireworks at 8:30 p.m.
The Prospect Area Preservation Society also opened for tours and closed shortly before the time capsule was opened. The borough’s post office opened in 1833 with rural delivery beginning in 1900, according to preservation society records.
“I mean, this is what I think small town, America is all about,” said Mayor James Butler. “It’s good for the community to come together and celebrate Prospect’s been here for 200 years.”
Butler said residents who attend the Memorial Day parade every year told him Saturday brought the largest crowd they had ever seen in the borough.
Adams displayed the time capsule artifacts from 1975 on a table outside the community library. It was buried under a rock beside the library with a plaque placed in 1975 honoring Rube Waddell, a baseball pitcher born in 1876 who grew up in Prospect. Waddell played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1900 and 1901 and spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Athletics, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The time capsule mostly included photos of buildings and people who lived in the town and newspaper clippings from 1975. A large binder with the names and addresses of all Prospect residents in 1975 and a letter from the John P. Hines family about their time living in the borough also grabbed viewers’ attention.
The letter details historical events like two Prospect teens being killed in a vehicle crash on Route 8 near Route 138 on their way to Slippery Rock High School for summer classes.
It also describes the construction of Lake Arthur, from the land being purchased and families relocated, to developing the land and building the dam. The lake opened May 23, 1970, about 10 years after construction began, according to the letter.
The letter also details the construction of the borough’s sewer system in 1968, modern street lights and signs, and the addition of four mobile home courts. The family had lived in the borough for about 18-and-a-half years when the letter was written.
Parts of the time capsule were discovered to be waterlogged when it was unearthed and opened earlier in the week. Adams said some items like a book from the borough’s sesquicentennial were not able to be dried, but most items were saved.
She said the time capsule was sealed on top and surrounded by sand that likely didn’t drain properly when water seeped in.
“Obviously, that’s something we’re going to take into consideration when we do our new time capsule,” Adams said.
The community library will be collecting materials for a new time capsule over the summer to be buried in the fall and opened after another 50 years, Adams said. Moraine Elementary also has a time capsule buried that may be opened in 2050.
