WAKULLA COUNTY, FL — Wakulla County is opening a time capsule that has been buried at the courthouse for 50 years, with a public ceremony scheduled for Thursday, July 2 at 5:30 p.m.
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The capsule was placed in the ground in 1976, when the county celebrated its 200th birthday. Now, as America marks its 250th anniversary, residents and officials are gathering to see what was left behind for future generations.
Greg James, Clerk of the Court, said the opening will offer a window into the past — and the future.
"Opening that time capsule will give us a little insight into life 50 years ago, just as the things we put in the new time capsule is going to give the people who open it in 2076 a glimpse into the past to how what life is like today," James said.
Former Wakulla County Sheriff David Harvey was the newly elected sheriff in 1976 and placed a letter inside the capsule. He said he never expected to be alive to see it opened.
"1976 was an interesting time to become sheriff, and to be able to put something in a time capsule. Never thinking, quite frankly, about digging it up, and I'm anxious to see what comes out of that capsule, because I know the county we was then and the county we are now," Harvey said.
Harvey also reflected on what the moment means for younger generations in Wakulla.
"I feel fortunate to be here, to be honest, and it's exciting to see where we are now, and to know that I know where we were then," Harvey said.
Neighbor Brent Thurmond, who has lived in Wakulla County his entire life, said the county has changed dramatically since 1976.
"Everybody knew everybody. Typical small southern town, we had very little population. Most of the subdivisions at that time were five acre lots with a dirt road going down between them, and we did get our first major employer when we got the powder plant, just a few years before then, and we had just three or four years before then, gotten our first supermarket, before that everything was just a little country store, so the county was beginning to grow and change, but it was still very much like it would have been 50 years before," Thurmond said.
Thurmond noted that Wakulla's reputation has also shifted over the decades.
"It wasn't always the case. We were kind of looked down on for much of my youth, you know. I knew people that didn't want to have Wakulla on their tag when they would go to Tallahassee, because everybody would think you're just a country bumpkin," Thurmond said.
Harvey said the county's growth has not come at the cost of its identity.
"So I know what Wakulla was then, and I know what it is now, and it's much better now, and now the soul of Wakulla. We haven't lost the soul. Everybody thinks we're losing it. We're not. We got great people like you living in our county," Harvey said.
Both Thurmond and Harvey are encouraging Wakulla's youth and young adults to attend Thursday's opening to learn more about the county's history.
Harvey added a message for the youth of Wakulla County.
"You know it's going to be your generation that helps us through the next 50 years, and that's an awesome responsibility for you," Harvey said.
At the ceremony, a new time capsule will also be placed in the ground, set to be opened in 2076.
The event takes place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 2 at the Wakulla County Courthouse in Crawfordville.
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