The cornerstone of the Price Municipal building will be laid in place this afternoon as the climax of a ceremony in observance of another step in the development of this community. A half haliday has been proclaimed by Mayor J. Bracken Lee in honor of the occasion.
Arthur W. Horsley, trustee on the town board in 1895 when the old city building was erected, will be one of the principal speakers. Mr. Horsley superintended construction of the $5,000 hall, and it was he who laid the first brick in the foundation the the last brick on the chimney. he also removed the first brick when the building was razed last fall to make way for the $150,000 structure.
The other principal speaker will be R.A. Hart, who was state manager of the P.W.A. at the time that the federal grant of $67,500 for the building was approved. Major Lee will be master of ceremonies.
Representatives of various church, civic, governmental and social organizations have been invited to attend and take part. The Price Elks' lodge will conduct the ritualistic ceremony which is designed for such occasions. The officers to participate are: Erin H. Leonard, exalted ruler; William M. Davis, esteemed leading knight; Nick Bernardi, esteemed loyal knight; Silas W. Anders, lecturing knight; Eugene Coli, treasurer; Maurice Tatton, tyler; and S.J. Sweetring, secretary and acting chaplain in the absence of the Reverend R.C. Jones.
And important part of the ceremony will be the placing of documents in a copper box to be deposited in the cornerstone. Copies of newspapers relating to the building's construction, pictures of civic importance, possibly an ordinance book, and other items will be placed in the box, according to William Grogan, city recorder.
Music for the program will be furnished by the Carbon High School band, under direction of E.M. Williams.
Price continues to be the cornerstone in the lives of former residents throughout the country.
In 1938 Ed Culp was a 10 year old student at Harding Elementary. He is now 70 years old, in poor health and living in Vancouver, Washington.
His daughter, Rosie Potts, has been trying to clear up some of the unanswered details and questions in her father's life, one of which concerns a forgotten time capsule sealed in the cornerstone of the Price City Hall.
In an effort to assist her father, Potts contacted Lennis Anderson at the state library, who started the ball rolling, and Vern Jones at the city hall who "has picked it up and run with it."
Jones located several back issues of the 1938 Sun Advocate which contained articles regarding the laying of the cornerstone of the civic building."
The April 7, 1938 issue stated:
A number of documents were placed in a copper box and deposited in the cornerstone, these included the names of about 200 persons who were present at the ceremonies.
Other documents were: 1924 revised ordinances and history of Price; three issues of The Sun Advocate relating to the new building; notice of the bond election for the building; offer of the P.W.A. for the federal grant and notice of acceptance by the city; agreement with the contractors, Fausett and Presseto; financial statement of the city for 1937 and budget for 1938; pictures of persons and scenes relating to the history of Price; histories written by Abe Powell, Ernest Horsley and A.E. Gibson; list of officers of local organizations, two sales tokens; one copper cent; bank statements of the to local banks; Golden Jubilee Souvenir of Price ward, 1932; and telegrams of congratulations from Utah's national congressmen and senators.
Jones and city water crewmen explored a crawl space at the cornerstone after being contacted by Potts, but were unable to detect anything. A consecutive search with a metal detector proved more lucrative as they were definitely able to detect something magnetic.
"I am going to be contacting ABC News and various other media in an attempt to convince whoever needs to be convinced that this time capsule whould be opened! Governor Leavitt has been kept aware of the progress concerning the time capsule and Wayne Saltzgiver, who is the governor's assistant, will be bringing this up when he goes to Price. I just want to see this opened before my father dies." stressed Potts.
"He can remember that day so well," Potts stated regarding the laying of the cornerstone. "There is a paper in the time capsule which he signed his name to, as did the rest of the students in his class."
Culp last visited Price in 1953, and passing the courthouse several times, he wondered about the time capsule. "He could not imagine what it would be like to wait 50 years to open the time capsule, and now it has been 60." exclaimed Potts.
"There is no way to remove the capsule without demolishing the building, but it is important to be reminded in a permanent way that it is there so that if the building is destroyed in the future, people will be aware of the history that is hidden there." commented Jones.
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A portrait of Ed Culp as a young child. Culp was one of 200 who signed the register of the ceremony celebrating the laying of the City Hall cornerstone. Ed Culp was the grandson of George Washington Culp and Betsy Jane Powell. Betsy Jane Powell was the first white child born in Carbon County. |
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| Pictured here is George Washington Culp and Betsy Jane Powell the grandparents of Ed Culp. | The headstone of Betsy Jane Powell is pictured at the left. Betsy Jane Powell Culp, George Washington Culp, Robert Powell and Rachel Powell are all buried in the Carbonville cemetery. |
If you are related to this family or would like to join in the effort to have the time capsule opened please e-mail Rosie Potts.