Jacksonville is burying a time capsule next week, intending for it to be opened in 2075.
“There might be some surprises in there, too,” Mayor Andy Ezard said during the May 11 city council meeting.
People will be able to view the time capsule from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Central Park Plaza, before it’s buried at 5:30 p.m.
The burial likely will be quick, Ezard said, encouraging aldermen to attend the event ahead of their regular 6 p.m. council meeting.
Residents and leaders of clubs and organizations in the city were able to submit letters for inclusion in the time capsule, for family members and others to read in 50 years. Organizers originally said they would stop accepting letters around Dec. 30, but the deadline was pushed back multiple times.
“We just wanted a quick hitter — it was last year, the bicentennial — however, we felt it was kind of appropriate to get the interest going on the 250 years of our nation’s birthday, too, and why not?” Ezard said.
The city unearthed a time capsule in 2025 as part of its bicentennial celebrations. It was buried in 1975 as part of the city’s sesquicentennial.
“The ironic thing is that there were instructions for the Bicentennial Committee, but they were buried in the time capsule,” Ginny Fanning, chair of the city’s Time Capsule Committee, said in September.