BIG STONE GAP, Va. (WJHL) — On Saturday, Big Stone Gap welcomed a fascinating glimpse into its past with the unveiling of a historic time capsule.

This intriguing artifact, encased in the Minor Building since 1908, remained a mystery until Kendra Miller uncovered its existence while perusing an old newspaper article.

“The article had several paragraphs that one might easily skim over,” Miller recalled. “But as I continued reading, the mention of items placed in a cornerstone box caught my attention, and I thought, ‘Oh my!'”

Miller, who is a partner in the Minor Building, admitted that keeping this discovery under wraps was challenging, but sharing the moment with the community made it worthwhile.

“It’s incredibly meaningful to me,” Miller stated. “In the wrong hands, this piece of history might never have been revealed to the public.”

Mayor Gary Johnson of Big Stone Gap expressed his enthusiasm about the revelation, eagerly anticipating the contents of the time capsule.

“I worked for that company for 24.5 years. And it was then I found out about the time capsule and seen him take it out and everything. So I’ve heard all kinds of things that there’s, coins in there and there’s letters in there. So newspapers in there,” said Johnson.

Miller said at Saturday’s event that they dedicated a piece of paper for those in attendance to sign, and that paper will be put into a new time capsule that will be sealed back into the original spot at the Minor Building.

News Channel 11’s Brooke Mellott had the opportunity to sign the paper.

Miller said she hopes that Saturday’s event will serve a purpose for all generations that were in attendance.

“I hope that this event gets more younger people interested in history, because this is all happening because a bunch of what-ifs and me following through with a bunch of what-ifs. So, I found that newspaper article, and I was like, ‘when you get that building, we get it out,’” said Miller.

Miller went on to say that she is glad this piece of history fell into her hands and could be shared with the community.