Time capsule contained many items, but nothing that's very notworthy.

Examining contents of a "time capsule"
discovered behind the 1966 cornerstone
of the Leelanau County courthouse
in Leland on Tuesday morning
are county commissioners Mary
Tonneberger (left) and Melinda Lautner

The mystery has finally been revealed.

Yes, there was a “time capsule” located behind the cornerstone of Leelanau County courthouse in Leland.

No, there didn’t appear to be anything earth-shattering among its contents.

In fact, it appears that Leelanau County officials in 1968 spent far less time and effort considering what to put in their time capsule than county commissioners are now spending to determine what should go into a time capsule to be placed behind the cornerstone of the new Government Center now under construction in Suttons Bay Township.

One of the most interesting items in the old time capsule was a 1968 note on the county treasurer’s letterhead detailing costs of the “new” courthouse in Leland. The total bill for the construction project was $253,107 and change.

It’s expected that the bill for the facility now under construction adjacent to the Law Enforcement Center on Government Center Drive in Suttons Bay Township will come in at around $10.6 million.

Construction started on the old courthouse in March 1966; and the project was completed in December 1966. Hence, the cornerstone of the building says “1966.”

However, the cornerstone wasn’t actually put into place until 1968 at a July 4 ceremony that was sparsely attended, according to 83-year-old Benjamin Hohnke, a former county commissioner. Hohnke is the only one of three men who participated in the 1968 “cornerstone-laying” ceremony who is still living. Last month, he told the Enterprise he didn’t remember anything about a time capsule being placed behind the cornerstone as part of the ceremony.

The “time capsule,” it turns out, was a copper box about 9-by-8-by-5 inches in size. The top of the box was sealed to its body with what appeared to be Scotch tape. The outside of the box was slightly corroded; and the contents of the box smelled musty – but were otherwise in good shape.

The biggest, most prominent item was a yellowed photograph of the building dedication, containing the images of more than a dozen officials along with a typewritten list of their names attached.

There were several pieces of “Reelect Elmer Dalton for County Clerk” campaign materials in the time capsule. Also inside was an uncashed check for 10-cents from the State of Michigan that was payable to the county clerk.

More than 20 people – most of them county employees – gathered around the front of the courthouse as county commissioners Mary Tonneberger and Melinda Lautner opened the time capsule and sorted through its contents. The box was then turned over to the county clerk’s office where the contents were inventoried.

A complete list of the time capsule’s contents appears as a sidebar to this story.

Tonneberger, Lautner and commissioner Jean Watkoski comprise an “interior design subcommittee” of the county board that has been tasked with, among other things, putting together a “time capsule” to be placed in the new Government Center.

The subcommittee is soliciting ideas from Leelanau County school children and hopes to have suggestions in hand by Sept. 15. By October, the subcommittee will make a recommendation about the new time capsule to the full county board. The time capsule could be installed as early as November.

A contractor’s representative said there will be space available for a time capsule of about 20-by-20-by-18 inches near the front entrance of the new courthouse. County officials expect to move into the new facility and officially reestablish the county seat in Suttons Bay Township around the first of the year.