SAUGUS — A time capsule filled with carefully selected items from the town’s bicentennial celebration will meet its resting place for the next 100 years at the Round Hill Historic Site.
The contents of the capsule were gathered during a two-month long celebration of the milestone in 2015. Artists portrayed what they would want someone to know about the town a century from now.
Writing, video, and poster contests were held to determine what would make the cut. Drawings of orange dinosaurs and Kane’s Donuts were on the list. A historical coloring book, DVDs, and other small mementos were also chosen.
The capsule, donated by Bisbee-Porcella Funeral Home, will be buried Sept. 16 at 9 a.m. at the newly completed Round Hill park on Round Hill Street, which is behind the town’s public safety building.
A play, depicting the incorporation of Saugus in 1815 will be performed, and Boy Scout Troop 62 and middle school student Catherine Schena will make a presentation.
The event will be held in conjunction with the 2017 Essex National Heritage Area’s Trails & Sails Weekend.
The dedication of the historic town park, which has been more than five years in the making, will be held in a separate ceremony on Sept. 19.
Rev. Martha Leahy of First Congregational Church will recite a Native American Prayer. Ricky Simaratana, a direct descendent of the Wampanoag tribe, will give the blessing. Local children will entertain the crowds with a medley of songs representative of Saugus’ history.
The site sits at the base of Round Hill and showcases the area’s history, culture, and natural resources. It was chosen by local historian Alonzo Lewis to be the focal point of the town seal in 1870.
The hill is cone-shaped and rises 125 to 150 feet high on a 600-square-foot parcel. The Saugus Public Safety Building sits on one side. The remainder of the wooded property is unused and overgrown with weeds.
The area that encompasses Round Hill, Vinegar Hill, and properties along the Saugus River, has significant historic importance for Native Americans, said Marilyn Carlson, vice-chairman of the Saugus Historical Commission.
The project started with a $10,000 allocation from Town Meeting in 2010, which was intended to restore and install a cast iron fence that was donated by retired Saugus teacher Ruth Backer, said Carlson. The donation and funding sparked a project to create a historic site, where visitors can reflect and learn about the town’s history.
A paved area with two granite benches, an obelisk, and a wayside sign outlining the site’s history is now surrounded by the cast iron fence.
Carlson said she hopes schoolchildren and tourists who stop by Saugus Iron Works will make the short walk to the site.
