Monday, July 07, 2025, 8:38PM | 
MENU
Advertisement
This was inside the time capsule found in the cornerstone of Brashear's factory which was demolished after a partial collapse in March 2015.
2
MORE

History Center holds time capsule while Pittsburgh, demolition contractor sort out ownership

Copyright © 2015 Al Paslow

History Center holds time capsule while Pittsburgh, demolition contractor sort out ownership

The Heinz History Center has taken possession of a 120-year old time capsule found after a construction crew demolished the Brashear Telescope Factory on the North Side last month.

Andrew Masich, the history center’s president and CEO, said the center received the brass capsule Wednesday afternoon from Minniefield Construction, the company that performed the emergency demolition of the city-owned property on Perrysville Avenue March 17 after a wall partially collapsed.

The city had sought and won a preliminary injunction ordering the construction company to turn the time capsule over to Heinz. Who actually owns the capsule remains an open issue, though the city is confident it can prove it has legal title and plans to convey ownership to the history center "in perpetuity," said Kevin Acklin, Mayor Bill Peduto's chief of staff. Minniefield, which was paid $235,000 to demolish the building, claimed it had the right to any salvage and was reluctant to relinquish the time capsule.

Advertisement

The factory, which was on the National Register of Historic Places, was built by John A. Brashear, a self-made Pittsburgh astronomer, and manufactured hundreds of telescopes and precise scientific instruments for observatories and scientific institutions.

Workers open the time capsule they found while demolishing the building that once housed the factory in which John Brashear manufactured optics.
Dan Majors and Amy McConnell Schaarsmith
Who owns the time capsule found at historic Brashear factory?

Mr. Masich said the time capsule contains about 60 items, including optical glass, a lock of hair from Mr. Brashear’s wife, Phoebe, photographs, plans and blueprints of the factory and newspaper clippings.

“Our curators have photographed and inventoried the material and are holding it in a climate-controlled environment,” Mr. Masich said. “Its value is more historical than monetary. It’s sort of a snapshot in time of John Brashear’s Pittsburgh. …Like many time capsules, people don’t put treasures in, they tend to put everyday items. ...They want people to know who they were.”

First Published: April 1, 2015, 9:36 p.m.

Advertisement
RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Mitch Keller #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during the first inning against the New York Mets at PNC Park on June 27, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1
sports
Paul Zeise: Time to blow it up (again) — Pirates should commit to another full rebuild at this upcoming trade deadline
Pedestrians walk through the rain on the North Shore on Monday, July 7, 2025.
2
news
Storms could bring heavy rain, flooding to Pittsburgh region this week
Pirates team owner Bob Nutting talks with general manager Ben Cherington during spring training Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, at Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla.
3
sports
Jason Mackey: How misplaced loyalty and a lack of true urgency have put the Pirates in a lousy spot
Bethel Park at sunrise earlier this year. The community, where Thomas Crooks grew up, was as surprised as the rest of the country when one of its own was involved an attempt to shoot a presidential candidate.
4
news
In Bethel Park, hometown of Trump’s would-be assassin, resilience and disbelief linger
The “Bible House,” the early headquarters for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society -- an integral part of the Jehovah’s Witness congregations --was built in what's now Pittsburgh in 1889. It served as the organization's headquarters for nearly 20 years before it was moved to Brooklyn, NY and later to upstate New York.
5
news
Silence and shame: How the Jehovah’s Witnesses sex abuse crisis in Pennsylvania unfolded
This was inside the time capsule found in the cornerstone of Brashear's factory which was demolished after a partial collapse in March 2015.  (Copyright © 2015 Al Paslow)
This is a picture of the employees of John A. Brashear's mechanical department dated August 1894. This photo was found inside the time capsule found in the cornerstone of Brashear's factory which was demolished after a partial collapse in March 2015.  (Al Paslow)
Copyright © 2015 Al Paslow
Advertisement
LATEST local
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story