Cornerstones are small pieces of a building with a big job. They mark a date, a name, a purpose, and sometimes an entire moment in time that gets sealed into the wall.
A Retro Indy photo set from indystar.com highlights that tradition with a standout example from Central Christian Church in Indianapolis. The church removed a cornerstone in front of about 200 members and revealed a capsule placed in 1899. Inside were an American flag, an 1899 coin, an 1899 newspaper, the original cornerstone-laying service program, and a union card from a bricklayer who helped place the stone.
The gallery also points to the former Indianapolis City Hall building at 202 N. Alabama St., erected in 1909. Its cornerstone inscription reads, “I am myself a citizen of no mean city,” dated July 27, 1909, with then-Mayor Charles A. Bookwalter’s name. The city’s Department of Metropolitan Development was considering the building’s future, and the photos show the cornerstone details still doing their work more than a century later.
For mason contractors and restoration crews, these images are a reminder that cornerstones deserve planning, not last-minute decisions. If a project involves demolition, renovation, or facade work, treat cornerstones and plaques as irreplaceable finish materials. Document inscriptions before work starts, protect edges and faces during access and staging, and coordinate with the owner if a time capsule is involved. When a cornerstone gets removed, set it aside with a clear chain of custody so it can be reinstalled or displayed.
That approach shows up in the gallery’s examples. Ivy Tech Community College preserved the historic facade of the old St. Vincent Hospital building, including its cornerstone, as part of a campus expansion project. In Decatur Township, cornerstones from a school built in 1952 and expanded in 1958 were set aside for incorporation into a new building on the same site.
Read the full, original article from indystar.com here.