RENO, Nev. (AP) — Historians hope a time capsule stashed in the cornerstone of a Masonic lodge built in Reno in 1872 will offer a glimpse of post-Civil War life on the western frontier.
Reno's mayor scheduled a news conference Tuesday to unveil the contents of the capsule a neighboring hotel developer discovered during the recent demolition of the Reno Masonic Lodge that had been the city's oldest standing commercial building.
It was built along the railroad tracks a few blocks from the Truckee River when Ulysses S. Grant was president shortly after the Comstock Lode of gold and silver was struck in nearby Virginia City. A year later, a Reno tailor a few blocks away patented the first pair of copper-riveted jeans with Levi Straus & Co.
The bottom floor of the lodge housed a dry goods and grocery store for decades.