Their house – a 68 year-old beauty on Hill Street – is undergoing some major renovation works, and Chris said when his builders rang him with the news it was a nice surprise.

“It was so unexpected to be honest, we did not expect to find anything as the builders went about their work but I got this phone call about some papers found under the floorboards and thought I wanted to have a better look,” Chris said.

“The builders collected the newspapers and for the first few days I didn’t think anything of them, but when I got a quiet minute I spread them all out and I realised they were old Port News’ from the 1950s.”

He said looking through the papers is like stepping back in time.

“Obviously the paper has aged but for the most part the papers were preserved under floor coverings so they have not been disturbed,” he said.

“Reading through the papers some of the stories are pretty crazy; there are stories about the war, Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler fighting so it really tells a story of the news of the day.

“On the front page of one of the papers is a photo of Queen Elizabeth II and the caption refers to her as Princess Elizabeth so you can obviously tell it was a long time ago.

“The other thing that really got me was the fact that a lot of the advertising is so racist – I guess it was a sign of the times but most of it would not be allowed today.”

Having grown up in Port Macquarie, Leasa said when she was reading the newspapers she recognised some of the names.

"It was really cool to read through the papers and think of the people actually living in Port Macquarie and the wider Hastings,” Leasa said.

“The stories in the papers had local family names of people I recognise today which is cool to think about.

“The papers also had local footy and surf life saving results in them so it really does capture a moment in time.”

Chris said the fact the papers had been undisturbed for so long was remarkable. 

“When we got the house we were told there had been six extensions or renovations so it is quite amazing that the papers had not been found before then,” Chris said.

“We spoke to the builders and they said back in the day it was common for builders to read the paper and then use it as building materials in the houses they were creating so we are assuming that is how and why they were there in the first place.

"But for us it is kind of like a time capsule from yester-year and I think that is pretty cool."

Have you found anything from the past under your floorboards? Let us know by emailing laura.telford@fairfaxmedia.com.au.