MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) –  Cannonball House officials and Macon-Bibb County officials opened two time capsules recovered after relocating two downtown Confederate monuments.

History leaped from two copper boxes Friday when two time capsules were opened that had previously been buried under two Confederate monuments in downtown Macon.

Crews recovered the capsules after moving Confederate monuments on Cotton Avenue and Poplar Street.

The monuments were relocated to Whittle Park at Rose Hill Cemetery, and the capsules were held inside the county vault until the county presented them to the Historic Cannonball House.

Earl Colvin, chairman of the board of directors for the Cannonball House, says the time capsules have found their perfect home.

“We’re able to go back 150 years and touch a piece of time that involved the lives of other people,” he said. “Today to see artifacts that were placed in there so long ago is really special. This just adds to the momentum of what we’ve already got going. These artifacts in themselves are very special in the fact that they came from a time period that represents the period that the house was built, so it’s important to us to remember all parts and aspects of our history.”

The Cotton Avenue capsule, which had not been opened since 1956, includes artifacts from the Civil War, including a photograph of a confederate soldier. There were also newspapers from the 1880s inside and even an original copy of “Gone with the Wind.”

“As you’re going through that and you’re touch all of these old things that you know that somebody in 1878 touched those things, it’s just almost chill bumps to the point of emotional,” Cannonball House Executive Director Cheryl Aultman said. “It was just wonderful to see all of that stuff.”

All artifacts unveiled from both time capsules will be displayed inside the Cannonball House’s Civil War Museum.

Addition items from the time capsules:

There are a few more items that are too wet to open yet. The Cannonball House is  attempting to dehumidify them and are hopeful they can be saved. The large 1956 metal box had taken on moisture over the years, damaging many of the items enclosed.

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