Rob Lammle
History Mysteries: 7 Lost Time Capsules
by Rob Lammle - June 1, 2010 - 9:29 AM

According to the International Time Capsule Society at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, there are approximately 10,000 time capsules in the world. However, they also estimate that no one remembers where 9,000 of them are buried. Let’s hop in our DeLorean and explore the strange stories behind seven of these lost time capsules.

1. I Guess You Can Take It With You

Even though most time capsules contain little of monetary value, there’s always that chance that someone will deface or damage it just to be a jerk. The City of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, developed an ingenious plan to prevent such vandalism when they decided to inter a time capsule in 1962. They elected a special committee to decide where the capsule should be buried and were then instructed to keep the location a secret. The men kept their word all right—perhaps a little too well.

Twenty-five years later, when the capsule was supposed to be dug up for the city’s 100th anniversary in 1987, almost all of the committee members had died and none had passed on the time capsule’s secret location. Only one member of the committee was still alive, and he couldn’t remember where it was. To this day, the capsule is still hidden somewhere underneath the city.

2. Always Have a Backup Plan

To commemorate the 5th anniversary of their San Diego headquarters, General Dynamics Astronautics placed a time capsule inside a concrete vault in 1963. Inside the capsule was a small book titled 2063 A.D., named after the year in which they intended the capsule to be retrieved. The book was a series of interviews with politicians, military personnel, and those in the space program, offering educated predictions about life 100 years in the future.

For example, Brigadier General Irving Branch (USAF), suggested the moon would have a population of 100,000 by 2063; Mars’ colony would be a quaint town of only 10,000. John Glenn thought we would have an anti-gravity rocket propulsion system that would take us further into space than we could even imagine possible. And then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson felt man would be able to control the weather, have the capability for global communications, and traveling between space stations and planets would be an everyday event.

Unfortunately, when the General Dynamics building was torn down in the late-1990s, the time capsule could not be found and has been presumed destroyed. But all is not lost—the forward-thinkers of 1963 had the bright idea of printing around 200 copies of 2063 A.D. and distributing them to select universities all over the United States. If your local college doesn’t have a copy, thanks to Matt Novak of paleo-future.com and that global communication system that LBJ predicted, you can download the complete book for free.

3. Bicentennial Blunder

The Bicentennial Wagon Train of 1976 consisted of 50 horse-drawn wagons, one for each state, traveling across the country following the traditional wagon trails that led the pioneers out West. Only this time, the travelers were going in the opposite direction—from the West Coast, back to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where they would take part in a huge Bicentennial celebration. Along the way, passing through towns big and small, they collected the signatures of a reported 22 million Americans. These signatures were placed inside a time capsule to be buried at a ceremony presided over by President Gerald Ford himself. However, moments before the big event, it was discovered that the capsule had been stolen from the back of the van, never to be seen again.

4. Better Late Than Never

While most lost time capsules stay that way, every once in a while, one will crop up again. Like one of the two capsules that were supposed to be buried in 1953 as part of the centennial celebration of the founding of the Washington Territory (now the state of Washington). While the larger capsule was interred as planned, the smaller one was inexplicably left in a fifth floor storage room of the state Capitol building. It had been packed away inside a nondescript crate and would probably still be there today were it not for an earthquake that damaged the Capitol in 2001. While cleaning out the storage room, workers thought the lead container was probably old mimeograph fluid. As they began to haul the crate out of the room, they noticed writing on the side that had been facing the wall that told them what they had really found.

In a risky move, the long-lost capsule was placed back into storage at another facility until the repairs to the Capitol building were completed. Luckily the crate didn’t get misplaced this time around, and was instead buried next to its big brother on the Capitol grounds in 2005. To ensure this type of thing doesn’t happen again when the capsules are supposed to be opened in 2053, a small brass plaque was placed on the spot where they’re buried, and a document describing the location was sent to the state’s archives in both Olympia and Cheney, Washington.

5. Corona’s Claim to Time Capsule Fame

The city of Corona, California, holds the all-time record for time capsules lost by one organization. As part of Corona’s 1985 Labor Day celebration, 17 time capsules buried since the 1930s by local high school classes were meant to be retrieved. City workers began tearing up the concrete around civic hall where the first capsule was thought to be, but they came up empty. So they tried the next spot. Nothing. In all they dug 17 holes, tore up a lot of concrete, and found zero time capsules.

6. Where Is That Dam Time Capsule?

During the July 22, 1941, dedication of the 162-foot high Kingsley Dam on Lake McConaughy in Nebraska, a copper time capsule was ceremoniously lowered into a 100-foot hole somewhere along the expanse of the three-mile long dam. To commemorate the event, photos were taken, including one of two 12-year old girls who were chosen to cut the ribbon on a derrick that deposited the canister into the shaft. The capsule was meant to remain sealed inside the dam until 2041, the 100th anniversary of the Kingsley construction.

In 1991, officials thought it would be a good idea to designate the site of the capsule with a marker as part of the dam’s 50th anniversary. However, no one knew exactly where the capsule was anymore. They did recall that a plaque describing the location of the capsule had been sent to the state Capitol for safe-keeping. Surprise, surprise, no one at the Capitol building had ever seen or heard of such a plaque. Almost out of ideas, they started looking through the dam’s archives and discovered the photos from the ceremony, including the one of the two girls cutting the ribbon. Thanks to the photographic evidence, they were finally able to track down the location of the capsule and put a sign over top so this type of thing won’t ever happen again. (In theory, anyway.)

7. It Ain’t Rocket Science

There is one time capsule that isn’t exactly lost, but it might as well be. A brass capsule was placed on the campus of MIT in 1889. Unfortunately, everyone had forgotten it was there, and they wound up building the school’s cyclotron particle accelerator on top of it in 1939. The accelerator has since been deactivated, but the capsule is just going to have to stay where it is for now – retrieving it would require moving the 36,000 pound cyclotron. Even the geniuses at MIT haven’t figured out an easy way to do that yet.
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Have you ever contributed to a time capsule? Were you there when one was opened? Tell us about it in the comments below!

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Comments (28)

  1. I had two flashbacks while reading this:

    1. We buried a time capsule when I was in elementary school, possibly tied to our town’s 75th anniversary. I would bet big money that nobody remembers where it’s located and would be disappointed if they found it.

    2. That episode of Full House when Jesse, Danny and Joey find their old time capsule. I believe Jesse’s hair dryer was inside. (I would not bet big money on that, though.)

    posted by Jason English on 6-1-2010 at 9:51 am

  2. The big problem is that all time capsules have junk in them. The hospital I worked at pulled up a 50 year olf time capsule and it had some photos and an old stethoscope.
    Jeepers. At least put in a 75 dollar savings bond that may be worth something in the future.

    posted by cajun bob on 6-1-2010 at 10:16 am

  3. When I was in 5th grade our class put stuff in a “time capsule”. It was some container of some kind. Our teacher in his wisdom put me and my friend in charge of burying it. I’m not even sure he even remembers there was a time capsule let alone where it is located. I have an idea where it is, we never marked it. I can narrow it down to probably 80 yards by 4o yards square area. I would love to find it.

    posted by Dan on 6-1-2010 at 10:32 am

  4. When I was in Junior High our school dug up the time capsules that had been buried when the school was built. To celebrate the 25th anniversary they were opened. Apparently 7th graders from the seventies weren’t that interesting, they were filled with information on credit cards, combs, and pictures of school administrators. I remeber being very disappointed.

    posted by Heather on 6-1-2010 at 10:53 am

  5. my high school astronomy club made a time capsule for the launch of New Horizons to be opened when it arrives at Pluto… don’t know if it will survive the storage container

    posted by Katie on 6-1-2010 at 11:15 am

  6. When i was asked to contribute to a time capsule being placed at a nearby school, i reached into my pocket and put in the coolest thing i could find. a guitar pick. Whenever that time capsule is opened poeple will probably be playing the guitar with their minds.

    posted by JOHN THE THIRD on 6-1-2010 at 11:35 am

  7. The insurance building where I work has an interesting solution to the lost capsule problem: it’s mounted on a wall near the cafeteria, under glass. Somehow I think being able to see it every day robs it of some kind of dignity, but then again, no one’s going to have to hunt for it.

    posted by Nicole on 6-1-2010 at 1:04 pm

  8. It does seem that time capsules get filled with junk. That and our history for the at least the last hundred years has been fairly well documented, so nothing that we find in a time capsule is that amazing. I mean even the biggest ones contain things that are still readily available in a museum. What we need to find is a time capsule put into place by a time traveler so it’s cool stuff from the future…like a hoverboard.

    posted by Luke Nye on 6-1-2010 at 2:54 pm

  9. Will we know how many people will download the book? I’m #1.

    posted by gus on 6-1-2010 at 3:10 pm

  10. When I was in 8th grade, everyone in my history class had to create a time capsule about themselves. They’re just shoe boxes so they were never meant to be buried. I’ve got mine in a bottom drawer in my desk. We put a sticker on them that says “do not open until 2025″ and it’s a way for us to look back and also have some pieces of our childhood 25 years down the line from when we made them in 2000. I thought it was a cool project.

    I remember a few things I put in there (like a pokemon card and a picture of me and my best friend at the time) I’m sure there’s a lot of things I’ve forgotten are in there, so it’ll be cool to open it up in another 15 years and see what I thought was important enough to hang onto as a reminder of my 8th grade self.

    posted by Pam on 6-1-2010 at 4:14 pm

  11. Wondering if Nicole and I work for the same company!

    posted by Jessica on 6-1-2010 at 4:46 pm

  12. when my high school was built in 1901 they did a time capsule. It’s a a hole in a corner of the building. At the 100th anniversary, they opened it up, there was a newspaper clipping, a chicken bone and something else equally interesting. We put another one in, in the same spot. I have no idea what got in there this time.

    posted by ashley on 6-1-2010 at 4:52 pm

  13. When I was a kid our neighbors built a new front porch. They put a time capsule into one of the cinder blocks. It was a glass jar containing some coins, the headline cut from that day’s local newspaper and pictures of all of us neighborhood kids and a few other little meaningless trinkets.

    posted by pam on 6-1-2010 at 7:58 pm

  14. My great Aunt and her family did the exact thing pam mentioned above… Every time I visit I wonder what’s in there. Out of curiosity, were your neighbors the Evans? If so I guess I know what’s in there now.
    Additionally, when I was a high school freshman we wrote letters to our future selves. They are supposed to be mailed at some point, but I forgot the time span. I really hope they actually make it back…

    posted by Celare on 6-1-2010 at 9:56 pm

  15. Our church “dug up” one of two time capsules buried on our site just last weekend (5/23). We found old pictures, newspaper articles, civic directories, and a written history of the church to that time. We had a list of what was in there, so we knew what to look for. Since I’m the church historian, it is my job to interpret the articles. The articles were in a case that was welded shut and put into a cornerstone, above the ground. They were in far better shape than burying them in the ground.

    posted by Steve D. on 6-2-2010 at 12:24 am

  16. When we redid our bathroom, we put a jar with some money, a grocery receipt, pictures of us and our dogs and headlines from the paper that day between the studs, before covering them with new drywall…when we were ripping down walls, I always had fantasies about finding treasure, but haven’t yet!

    posted by Gale Brubaker on 6-2-2010 at 9:16 am

  17. I also had to write letters to my “future self” in high school. We had to write three. I’ve received two. I never read them. I hate writing them. I just throw them away.

    posted by Jennifer on 6-2-2010 at 10:34 am

  18. There was an elementary school in my district that was unearthing their time capsule but the school was cheap and didn’t splurge for an expensive holder that would’ve protected the items from erosion and etc. so when they unearthed the time capsule, most of the letters and photographs were damaged.

    posted by Susan on 6-2-2010 at 2:15 pm

  19. I’ve always been fascinated by time capsules. When I was 14 or so (late ’70s), a bunch of friends and I made a time capsule and buried it in my backyard. We included Polaroid pictures, a cassette tape of ourselves, a copy of the local newspaper and a TIME magazine from that week, plus other odds and ends. We sealed all the items in plastic bags, put everything in a Rubbermaid container, and sealed the lid with caulk. A year or two later, though, we tried digging it up, but couldn’t find it… so as far as I know it’s still down there in my parents’ backyard. A friend of mine did the same thing but used a coffee can; he dug his up a year later, and the can had completely corroded, and virtually everything inside had decayed.

    posted by Brian on 6-2-2010 at 4:21 pm

  20. My college has the tradition of doing a time capsule for every generation and open it 5 years later.
    So, August 20 will be the opening of the time capsule of my generation, the strange thing is that I don’t remember what I put inside. Well, I think I’ll be finding out in 2 months.
    Also, there’s no way that it’ll be lost, it’s a concrete block outside of the auditorium.

    posted by Roberto on 6-2-2010 at 6:57 pm

  21. No time capsules here,but one thing my family did back in the 80′s when my parents were putting up paneling in the living room was we wrote all over the drywall. My mom wrote our family names and date and I wrote the lyrics to AHA’s “Take On Me”. To this day I wonder if and when someone finally removed the paneling and found it,what they thought.

    posted by lisaj6112 on 6-6-2010 at 9:47 pm

  22. I’m surprised there was no mention of Oklahoma’s Centennial. They buried a brand new ’57 Plymouth Belvedere, only to find a big hunk of junk 50 yrs later.
    At least the winner got a pristine 48-star American Flag, and documentation for a savings account valued at $100 in 1957, which has now appreciated to a little over a thousand dollars.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1628272520070616

    posted by Jesucita on 6-7-2010 at 11:33 am

  23. Not my time capsule, but you may remember the “buried Car” debacle that was unearthed in Tulsa in 2007. The car had been buried to commemorate 50 years of Oklahoma statehood…to be unearthed in 2007, during the centennial celebration. Check it out: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/16/national/main2938880.shtml

    posted by Deb on 6-7-2010 at 11:54 am

  24. The Alabama Museum of Natural History just openned one not long ago for Smith Hall on the University of Alabama campus. I liked the fact the someone (probably Eugene Smith–State Geologist) left a cigar on top of all the papers inside. Considering that it was closed up in the early 1900′s (just after the Spanish American War–that may well have been a Cuban cigar–I was don’t know if it is possible to rehydrate a 100 year old cigar.??!!

    posted by Darrell on 6-7-2010 at 5:02 pm

  25. >>The big problem is that all time capsules have junk in them.

    Exactly. Someone should buy a bunch of junk stocks and stick them in there. At least one of them is bound to bounce back and be worth some money.

    posted by Anna on 6-9-2010 at 2:14 pm

  26. I’m pretty sure the MIT story is wrong. MIT moved from Boston across the river to Cambridge in the early 20th century, so a time capsule buried in 1889 would not have been on the campus in 1939.

    posted by Mr Punch on 6-9-2010 at 2:48 pm

  27. My 3rd grade class buried a time caspule at the end of a field behind our school. It was suppose to be dug up our senior year. Unfortunately one summer they leveled the field to create a new baseball diamond and involved in the leveling knew it buried. Since they had already uprooted the tree that marked the place the capsule was suppose to be buried we never found it.

    posted by tj on 6-9-2010 at 7:34 pm

  28. I’m currently ending my 8th grade year and tomorrow we’re starting to put our time capsules together. However my teachers have decided to put the time capsules in their classrooms so they can never be lost because they’re never out of sight. The reason they decided this was because they didn’t want the capsules to be lost when the schools change because a new school is being built and the one I’m in now may be torn down and built over.

    posted by Gabby on 6-14-2010 at 4:37 am

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