(AP Photo/Jim Cole)

As a child and even as an adult, we’re attracted to mysteries, treasures and the unknown. It’s always a topic of interest for all ages, which is why so many people are engaged in television shows, books and movies that are so secretive. This isn’t a case of spooky tales, but a mystery that has finally been solved.

In the small town of Milton, New Hampshire, the townspeople found a large safe that has been locked up for decades. Just recently, the people of Milton decided it was time to unlock the safe and reveal its contents. No one isn’t sure when the last time the safe was opened, but they were determined to open it now. The reason why they haven’t been able to open the safe is because the combination had been lost for years. In order to finally unlock the safe, they hired a safecracker, Seacoast Lock and Safe owner Paul Letourneau. It took Letourneau about three hours to drill through the safe and reset the combination. “On a sale of 1-10, it was probably a seven,” Letourneau said.

After the safe was finally unlocked, it was then immediately closed and relocked so that it can be unveiled for the public to see. Administrator Tony Mincu was tempted to rummage through the safe’s contents since he could see that the safe was full. “I didn’t want to ruin it for myself or anybody else, but it was tempting,” Mincu said before the unveiling.

The safe’s contents were always a mystery and there has been rumors spreading as to what’s inside. For the town’s oldest resident, they’re given a gold-tipped cane annually from The Boston Post newspaper. However, that cane has been missing for decades. “It might be in there,” said Selectman Tom Gray. “There’s talk around town that it’s in there.”

The revealing was held on Saturday, two days after the safe was unlocked and reset for the public to see. Local officials and residents huddled around and the safe was finally unveiled. However, no Boston Post Cane was present, but a plethora of historical records such as mortgage records dating back to 1858, when properties sold for less than $100. Other items included old town meeting minutes, records of local soldiers sent to fight in World War I, papers in which “intentions of marriage” were recorded.

Gray was hoping for some gold or other valuable assets to fund the new fire station the town recently built. There was no gold found inside, but a record of the financial budget of the town spending that year at $205,000. Currently, it’s at $3.2 million. Mincu says the safe is a priceless commodity. “What price do you put on history?” he asked. “It’s living history.”

The safe is being held inside the “townhouse,” which is an old church that was built in 1815. Volunteers are helping restore the ancient artifact slowly. As much as Mincu was curious to solve the mystery of the safe’s contents, he had more of a desire to reveal the town’s history. “We’re talking historic records that may or may not be in peril,” he said. “We don’t know what kind of condition they’re in.”

He mentioned when Letorneau opened the safe, the rusty odor was almost overwhelming. “This has been sealed for some time,” Mincu said. There had been other safes the town officials weren’t able to open. Two other large safes reside in the townhouse. One was unlocked and empty; the other is missing its outer doors. “I don’t know what board decided they wanted to get into it but they broke the doors off,” Selectman Bob Bridges said. There’s also another mystery to the safes about how they even got into the townhouse. Bridges measured all the doors and windows in the building and the dimensions were not large enough for the safes to fit. He was then asked how he thinks it might have got there, he replied, “I have no idea.”

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/04/14/nh_town_unveils_mystery_of_old_safes_contents/