Trying to make sense of my CMI pictures

I've found, to my untrained eye, that I never get enough pictures at crucial moments.  Especially when I'm absorbed in the action.

On my recent trip to New Haven, I made much more progress than I ever expected in locating the box located in the cornerstone of the building constructed in 1896 by Congregation Mishkan Israel.  The congregation itself moved to suburban Hamden in 1960 and sold the building.  It's now occupied by ECA, Educational Center for Arts, a special arts high school.

I managed to talk myself (and my entourage, including Peter M. a forensics expert, Dennis and my cousin Mary Ann) into some remote corners of the building including the payoff, the storage room or 'the dungeon' with the exterior brick wall exposed.

First here's a shot of the front of the building, a bit of a funny angle and not all of it.  The cornerstone with the dates is circled.  We still have not resolved the difference in the format of the dates described in the newspaper articles and the dates engraved in the visible cornerstone.  Colin C. thinks it's the original sandstone cornerstone where a bit would be hollowed out and a box inserted.

I have only a few shots of the dungeon. 

At first we pointed up at the stairway structure and said "oh these are stairs."   Yes, we are below the broad stairs going down to the street.  But we are not looking up at the main stairs which are much broader.  If you look closer at the picture, you can see the top of those narrower stair steps.  Maybe these narrow stairs were used previously to get to the top of the tower.  The main stairs are quite a distance from the outer wall and the stairs we were looking at are almost flush against the wall.  I think that the big structure in the foreground is the pillar supporting the tower.

Looking at the wall, you can see the brick arch above the florescent light and an area with much newer looking larger concrete bricks.  Is Peter standing by the front wall?  If so, the cornerstone would be right above his head.

I forget the purpose of the big square structure next to us retrofitted into the building.  The newer bricks would support its installation.


I'm trying to match what we're seeing on the inside to what's on the outside.  It's really hard.  Here's a shot of the side of the building.



The cornerstone (the side of it) is again circled. I can't see those new large concrete bricks.  The different brick is between the two boxes.  Is the large three piped structure in front of the big square thing in the dungeon?

I'm going to ask Colin to see if he can help me understand what I'm looking at.