33 Years in a School Ceiling: 12 Time Capsules Families and Schools Finally Opened

Curiosities
11/09/2026
33 Years in a School Ceiling: 12 Time Capsules Families and Schools Finally Opened

When my mom moved last year, I found the shoebox where she kept every note I left on the kitchen table, tied with my old hair tie. Reading “Pizza in the fridge” twenty years later felt like opening a time capsule nobody meant to bury. These 12 time capsules were sealed on purpose and opened decades later, often by the people who packed them.

A Letter Written at 20 to Open at 30, With One Question Still Unanswered

“A letter I wrote to myself 10 years ago”

January 17, 2014

Dear me,

Are you really 30? That seems so old, and I thought 20 felt old.

Oh! Have you written your webcomic yet? It’s #1 on my bucket list, so I really hope I’ve done that. I mean, come on — you’ve had 10 years! Surely it got done.

She got some things right!

I do have a career now. It is not engineering related, and I enjoy it a lot! It took me a few years after writing this letter to realize I wanted to pursue art, and even though it’s far from “steady” I’m a lot happier working in animation than I ever would have been in engineering.

Still haven’t written that webcomic yet 😅

A 1968 Penny and a Good-Luck Stone, Sealed in a Shed’s Cornerstone for 50 Years

“Found a time capsule tearing down a shed this summer. Included a note, a penny from that year, and our state stone.”

This shed was built by Eileen and Lawrence, ages 50 and 51 respectively.

This envelope with a 1968 penny and a good-luck Petoskey Stone was placed in this cornerstone Oct 12 1968 at 3:59 PM, a beautiful Sunny October Day. Weather perfect 70°.

Mich State Univ 14, University of Mich 28 Football Game

A Child’s Time Capsule Under a Concrete Pad, Rusted Shut and Unreadable

“I found a child’s time capsule while digging in my yard.”

The capsule was at the corner of a concrete pad poured by the original owners. The placement indicates the capsule was buried at the time the concrete was poured.

I can’t read it. It’s too water damaged despite being laminated.

Life is a series of disappointments. Like when your time capsule rusts and your note to the future is famous but no one can read it.

From the author:

In fourth grade, Mrs. Alvarez had us write letters to ourselves and promised to mail them in twenty years. Mine said I would be a marine biologist with a snail farm. Twenty years later an envelope came, forwarded twice, addressed in her handwriting. I’m not a marine biologist. The kid who writes the letter forgets it. The teacher keeps the whole stack.

A 1988 School Time Capsule That Was Lost for 33 Years in the Ceiling

“My workplace is being torn down and I found a long-lost time capsule from 1988 in the ceiling.”

We were able to get a VCR for the VHS tape and watch the whole thing. They went around to each class and kind of interviewed each class about what they put in it.

We heard rumor throughout the years about it and did some occasional searching but never found anything until yesterday.

Thinking I’ll have my fourth graders or the entire school put a new one together. Use the same box and leave another note on top. Then when our building opens I’ll stash it somewhere for another 25 years.

A Questionnaire Filled Out at 12 and Answered Again at 21

“‘Time Capsule’ I made for myself almost 9 years ago to open today on my 21st birthday”

Not much still applies, I’ll do the full questionnaire!

Favourite colour: I mean my bedroom is still blue so..

Favourite food: I had and still have a very unhealthy obsession with pizza, I need help

When I grow up I want money

Time: 2:57:11

Date: 04/05/18

I wish.. I swear I remember putting a 20 in there but I guess I changed my mind!

A Pen Pal Capsule Dug Up the Night Before the Wedding

Archivists who pack capsules for a living keep a short list. Use a container that won’t corrode, like stainless steel, print on acid-free paper, and choose black-and-white photos, which outlast color prints. Leave out anything made of PVC or vinyl, skip the tape and glue, and keep the capsule somewhere cool and dry; burying it is the riskiest choice. This one went into the ground:

“Time Capsule I buried with my pen pal from our first in-person hang out...dug out and opened the night before our wedding”

DO NOT put your stuff in plastic bags inside of a tin box covered in duct tape....it doesn’t really work out too well.

It was a bummer. I’m kind of glad we didn’t wait longer to open it because it might have all been gone. Next time I’ll have to do a better job protecting it.

A Nebraska Town’s 45-Ton Time Capsule, Opened on Schedule After 50 Years

On July 4, 1975, Harold Davisson, who owned a furniture store in Seward, Nebraska, sealed a 45-ton concrete vault on his front lawn and said it would stay shut for 50 years. About 3,000 people sent in packages: letters, photos, pet rocks and a brand-new car with no miles on it. The vault was opened on schedule, for July 4, 2025.

“There’s Good News Tonight: Nebraska town celebrates world’s biggest time capsule after 50 years”

From the author:
Mom’s shoebox had one note that wasn’t mine. At the bottom, under the hair tie, was a sticky note in her handwriting: ’6:40. Back by 7. Love you.’ She must have written it on a night she was running late and never left it on the table. Kids keep the notes they get. Parents keep the ones they meant to leave.

Glass Plate Negatives From Around 1900, Developed 120 Years Later

“I Developed a 120-year-old photo found in a time capsule”

Someone in my family told me about a possible time capsule in our old family house, after investigation I found a box dating from around 1900 and belonging to a little girl, judging by the objects and the technique of the glass plate negatives photos found inside. I then decided to develop them using one of the oldest ways to make photographic prints: Cyanotype.

A Cardboard Box That Did Not Survive 10 Years Underground

“My brothers and I dug up our time capsule we buried in 2002. Too young to realize that cardboard degrades over time.”

We were gonna dig it up when I got into University, but we never had a chance to. This is like the 4th time we’ve been together (when it wasn’t winter) and decided it was time.

A 1976 Class Time Capsule, Opened the Day a New School Building Opened

When the old Shoreland Elementary in Toledo, Ohio, was replaced by a new building, residents came to see the new school up close, and something nobody had seen in more than 40 years: the contents of a time capsule students put together in 1976.

“A look back in time: Time capsule from 1976 opened at Shoreland Elementary”

A Lunch Box Buried at 13 in the Parents’ Backyard, Dug Up 20 Years Later

“20 years ago I buried a time capsule in my parent’s back yard.”

The 13-year-old me didn’t know that April 5th fell on a Thursday and that the 33-year-old me had to work.

To my surprise, I didn’t even write myself a note. Instead, I drew myself a detailed map of my parents’ neighborhood with an X in the location of the box. I even wrote out their address in great detail, as if I would forget my childhood home. This map was essentially useless.

Namely, a metal lunch box does not make for a good barrier from the weather and neither does duct tape. Imagine that.

Although I didn’t uncover some long lost keepsakes, this was an immensely rewarding experience for me. I learned a great deal about who I used to be compared to who I am now. Having my children with me on this journey made the experience that much more special.

TL;DR — 13-year-old me was a troll ;-)

A Fourth Grader’s Time Capsule, Opened 15 Years Later by Someone Who Did What It Asked

“Waited 15 years to open my 4th grade time capsule today. Got me right in the feels.”

I don’t ever remember doing it! That’s the best part.

Funny thing is, I actually wrote one last year and published it free on my website. Hopefully, 10-year-old me is pleased and won’t start to haunt me.

The fourth grader wanted to write a choose-your-own-adventure. Fifteen years later there was one, free to read online. A time capsule doesn’t really keep things. It keeps the person who picked them.

What would you put in a time capsule for your family to open in 25 years? Tell us in the comments.

Preview photo credit jweic / Reddit

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