A 50-year-old time capsule was discovered Thursday inside the exterior concrete wall of McMinnville City Hall.
The discovery was made by Waymon Hale Construction employees John Proctor, Darryl Pedigo and Lief Ghrist when renovation began Thursday morning to repair the corner of the building. It sustained damage in December 2018 during a motor vehicle accident.
“We didn’t know what it was until we opened it,” said Proctor. “It’s the first time capsule I’ve ever found. There were some pretty cool items in it.”
A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians.
This one was placed by City Bank & Trust during construction of the building in 1968. Made of copper, the time capsule container is slightly smaller than a bread box.
Inside were numerous articles clipped from Southern Standard editions in 1968, a complete Oct. 4, 1902 edition donated by Cowan Oldham, a written transcript of the groundbreaking ceremony for City Bank & Trust Company held at 4 p.m. on May 31, 1968, signed by Board of Directors chairman Clarence Walling, a letter from the city of McMinnville signed by Mayor Franklin P. Blue, a letter from Chamber of Commerce’s executive secretary-manager Lynwood Smith, pictures taken during the groundbreaking, a 1923 silver dollar bill, a yellow Herbert Hoover pencil, and “A Story of Progress” that relayed the first 50 years of the bank (1912-1962).
It was sealed inside the wall without a hinged opening or a plaque to alert anyone of its presence.
The building is currently in the hands of McMinnville city government and is used as its City Hall.
“I think this is a tremendous discovery,” said Mayor Ben Newman. “I wonder what their plan was. Was it for the time capsule to stay there until the building got demolished or did they have some plan for it to be opened at a certain time? Usually those things are known and somebody plans to open it at a certain time.”
The box’s fate is once again to be sealed.
“First, I think what I’ll do is take a lot of this down to the library and see if they can get it scanned in,” said Newman. “Then, we will coordinate with Waymon on putting it back into the building. Leave it there for future generations to find. They’re leaving a spot open for it.”
A letter from Mayor Newman and this Southern Standard article about the discovery will be added to the box.
The process to repair City Hall took over year due to the city officials’ desire to preserve the building’s appearance which prompted difficulty in finding materials.
