We’re About To Open The Mail From 1977
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Among those present for the burial of the “Time Capsule” to be opened on July 4, 2026, were (from left) Joe Cox, Jim Shearer, Ken Hart, Mayor Watson Hunt, Dee Ann Cox and Bicentennial Observance Chairman Richard Flowers. The capsule was buried at city hall in July, 1977, and contains many mementos from the Bicentennial Observance in 1976.
DAVE’S WORLD
By David Howell
A good newspaper columnist ought to start the year with something fun, and I think I’ve found just the ticket. Actually, Jim Shearer deserves the credit. Jim recently ran across an old Herald article documenting the burial of a time capsule scheduled to be opened on July 4, 2026.
Just in case you’re wondering, this is 2026, and it’s still a little hard to say out loud. It also happens to be our nation’s Semiquincentennial, and admittedly I had to look up the word for the 250th anniversary.
Jim still had a saved copy of the 1977 Herald edition that covered the time capsule ceremony. That date also coincided with the death of his grandfather, longtime Herald editor Edward Boyd Shearer, who served as editor for 34 years, one of the longest tenures in the newspaper’s 137-year history. But I digress.
The first person I shared this news with was James McCormick, the only “time capsule expert” I know in Water Valley.
You may remember McCormick prepared a capsule just last April that was buried to mark the 125th anniversary of the death of Casey Jones. Also known around town as the mad scientist, think creator of the Steampunk Crappie, McCormick took great pride in over-engineering that box to ensure its contents would survive the next quarter-century in pristine condition. That capsule is scheduled to be opened in 2050, the 150th anniversary of Jones’ death.
The time capsule we’ll open this year is buried on the grounds of City Hall, placed there during a ceremony on July 4, 1977, so it is actually a 49-year capsule. The article reported there were around 30 in attendance, including Jim Shearer, Mayor Watson Hunt, Ken Hart, Joe Cox, Richard Flowers and Joe Cox.
According to the Herald account, the capsule includes a photostat of the original handwritten charter of the City of Water Valley, a Bank of Water Valley statement from July 1976, a program from the city’s 1976 Bicentennial celebration, New Testaments from local churches, the mayor’s welcome address from the Bicentennial program, minutes from city and county meetings in July 1976, an uncirculated set of U.S. Bicentennial silver coins, a sealed envelope from the Junior Auxiliary of Water Valley and several other sealed items that are sure to be interesting.
There was also mention of a 100-year time capsule, buried on city property, which contains many of the same items, along with others, including, reportedly, a dozen gold coins. Both time capsules were capped with concrete and topped with a marker specifying their contents and opening dates.
Jack Gurner remembered the capsules as well and said that, if memory serves him right, they were PVC pipes with threaded ends that had been marketed specifically as time capsules and even came with fancy wraps. Now, I’m not sure Jack would have remembered that this was the year to dig one of the capsules up, nor anybody else, for that matter.
I asked Grant Thompson, and he had no knowledge of the capsules. Barring Jim’s miracle discovery, our only other hope might have been Grant’s digitization project.
You may recall Grant began that project nearly three and a half years ago with the goal of preserving 84 years of Herald history, from 1930 to 2014. He comes into the newspaper office two or three mornings each week, photographing several months of editions at a time. Grant has now completed every page from 1930 through 1969 and, as of Tuesday morning, has reached the 1971 editions.
He likely would have covered the six-year span to the 1977 edition and made the discovery. Otherwise, who knows when it would have been discovered.
Now, about that 100-year capsule, I’m kidding about the gold coins, but the newspaper article listed some pretty cool items that are inside it. And somebody really ought to put July 4, 2076, into their iPhone calendar.
I’m not sure I’ll still be around to cover it in the Herald. I just hope I make it to the 2050 opening of the Casey Jones capsule.
