items wo n't be removed .
a boston globe report from 1901 provided details as to what was placed inside — photographs and autographs from top government officials , a back in 1901 , the superintendent of boston ’s public buildings commissioned samuel d. rogers , a carpenter , to complete repairs and alterations on the old state house .
the bostonian society , the nonprofit that maintains the old state house in boston , said in tweets that their archivist was surprised by the great condition of the items inside , and , in a slightly anticlimactic end to the ceremony in woburn .
onlookers at a press - only unveiling gasped when the sealed box was pryed open .
the bostonian society on thursday oct. 9 , 2014 file photo , a lion statue is removed from atop the old state house .
this thursday , oct. 9 , skylight studios will remove the capsule from the lion ’s head , providing a snapshot of what life was like in turn - of - the - previous - century boston — and , for one idaho woman , offering some insight into her own family history .
heidi rogers grundhauser , of chubbuck , idaho , is rogers ’s great - great granddaughter and a self - proclaimed “ genealogy addict ” ; she learned about the time capsule when her own father passed along rogers family heirlooms to her , including samuel ’s letters about historians opened the 113 - year - old time capsule inside the old state house ’s golden lion statue thursday , and were surprised by what they found : a mystery red book resting on top of the box ’s contents .
( ap ) — the highly - anticipated opening of a time capsule that been hidden in the head of a lion statue atop a historical landmark for more than a century yielded at least one surprise thursday : a hardcover book .
but all seems in " remarkably good condition . "