ROCKDALE, Texas (KRHD) — The City of Rockdale buried its new time capsule Sunday evening at Veteran's Park, closing out its Sesquicentennial celebration.
- The City of Rockdale buried its new time capsule Sunday — the final event of its two-week long Sesquicentennial celebration.
- The aluminum time capsule from 1974 eroded due to acidic soils, damaging most items inside.
- Emeritus City Manager Barbara Holly says the items in the new stainless-steel capsule are wrapped in plastic and will be buried under gravel, sand and concrete.
- The capsule is set to be opened in 2074.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"We all dressed up when we went downtown. We all wore a period costume clothing from the 1800s," Long-time Rockdale resident Geri Burnett said. "We had a rocking chair contest in front of the library… I mean, they rocked all night long, several nights. The winner I think rocked for like 36 hours... it was everybody participated. Every building had something about the Centennial in it.
Geri Burnett remembers Rockdale's Centennial celebration back in 1974, especially the burial of the time capsule.
"I had two small children, and we were very busy with the activities, and I think I put a picture of our family in," she said.
Fifty years later, she's watching as a new time capsule is buried.
"Fifty years goes by fast," she said.
It's the final event of Rockdale's Sesquicentennial.
The city dug up it's old time capsule, only to find it eroded because of acidic soils.
The only thing left was old newspapers, plates and pins.
"I was disappointed for our community," Burnett said.
Now, the city is coming up with a solution.
"It's made out of stainless steel, and we've got everything encapsulated in plastic," Emeritus City Manager Barbara Holly said.
They're also using gravel, sand and concrete to cover it.
"We have artwork, we have a lot of thumb drives, we have wedding invitations, we have some two dollar bills, we have letters, we have the computer or one of the bitcoin mining computers that Riot did," Holly said.
As for what Geri put in the capsule, we'll just have to wait 50 years.
"My husband and I have 10 grandchildren... and I haven't told them. I told them I put something in it, that they were going to have to wait 50 years to see what it was," she said.
