Most visitors to the State Capitol – also known as the Legislative Building – in Olympia, tend to look up rather than down. Many people walk right over a time capsule from the American Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. It is set to be opened in 2076.
What is a Time Capsule?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a time capsule as “a container holding historical records or objects representative of current culture that is deposited for preservation until discovery by some future age.”
Time capsules are often created for major events and anniversaries. Washington created a time capsule for the 1953 Washington Territory Centennial. Lost for decades, it is now buried by the flagpoles between the Legislative Building and Temple of Justice. The Washington State Centennial Time Capsule, located in the south foyer of the Legislative Building, was created in 1989. Set to be opened during the state’s 500th birthday in 2389, new items are set to be added to the capsule every 25 years.
Celebrating the American Bicentennial
The Washington State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission was created in 1972 to coordinate and promote events around the anniversary. Among their many activities, the commission decided to create a time capsule.
Reynolds Metals Company, which created dozens of time capsules for the Bicentennial, provided the box but what to put inside was up to the commission. Besides basic conservation concerns, how can any small collection of items encapsulate an entire era and culture?
Filling Ceremony Held in Washington State Reception Room
State officials filled the time capsule at a special ceremony on August 5, 1976, in the Capitol Building’s Reception Room. These items focused on Bicentennial celebrations and on Washington State’s economy and natural resources.
The Bicentennial Commission included their “American Bicentennial Review” booklet, a calendar of bicentennial events, a large bronze Bicentennial medallion and the first volume of “Alternatives For Washington.” A sample from prize-winning quilt work was given by the State Capital Museum of Olympia.
To represent the state’s enduring Indigenous heritage, the Makah Tribe donated a sandstone fishnet weight from the Ozette archeological site. This approximately 500-year-old site had been discovered in the winter of 1969-1970. The resulting excavation led to the creation of the Makah Museum.
Other items for the capsule represented Washington’s natural resources. The Department of Fisheries donated a can of salmon. The Department of Natural Resources included tree seed samples for Douglas fir, western hemlock, Stika spruce, western red cedar, ponderosa pine, and lodgepole pine. There was an air sample from Tumwater and a water sample from the Methrow River. Samples of vernal alfalfa, steptoe barley, and nugaines wheat from the 1975 state grain crop were also included.
To represent the state’s industry, the Olympia Brewing Company donated a can of its signature beer and the Boeing Company contributed a miniature lunar module paperweight. Also included were pieces of aluminum utility cable used in statewide construction projects.
Finally, a satellite picture of Washington, “human interest” photos from around the state, and a picture of the Olympia skyline were added to represent contemporary culture. There were also a Native American beaded necklace and a report on businesses in Washington.
Governor Dan Evans signed a handwritten scroll with a message to those who would open the capsule a century in the future. Along with wishes for the state’s continued prosperity he explained that “In this capsule we have placed documents and articles which have individual and collective significance for us today. While some may provide a source of amusement to you as indications of our ‘archaic’ way of life, I trust all will be a source of information, leading to a better understanding of the people who dedicated this time capsule to you … during the Bicentennial celebration of the American Revolution.”
Time Capsule Buried in Olympia at Capitol
The Commission decided to bury the capsule inside the Capitol Building. A prominent spot in the north foyer, under a large marble star on the floor, was selected.
The capsule was dedicated and installed in a public ceremony on December 28, 1976. State officials repacked the capsule before engineers from Reynolds Metals Company filled the box with preservative argon gas and sealed it.
Governor Dan Evans addressed the crowd. “These will be of considerable interest,” the Daily Olympian quoted him, “and probably some humor—to those who celebrate the Tricentennial. I would hope that they will be living better and will have better opportunities then.” Looking out at the crowd and to a future he could not see, Evans gestured to a child in his father’s arms. “That lad,” he declared, “and some of his friends probably will be the only ones around then.”
A minister gave a prayer of thanksgiving for “our sense of the connectedness to our past and to our future.”
The time capsule box was placed in the floor and covered with a marble slab, not to be opened again until 2076,America’s 300th birthday.
And that is where the time capsule remains today, waiting for the day it will be opened. Generations of visitors have passed it by, rarely stopping to read the message inscribed in marble. “We trust that you,” the marker informs those who will open the capsule, “will find the contents of the time capsule to be informative of Washington’s past and present as we knew it and of its future as we saw it. These items from the past and our vision and hopes for the future we entrust to you.”
