Time capsule reveals a piece of Sioux City history

SIOUX CITY, Ia — The Woodbury County Courthouse has a brand new exhibit which holds artifacts from a time capsule.

Just four months ago, in November, a time capsule was removed from the Woodbury County Courthouse and opened to reveal historical artifacts from over 100 years ago.

This is all part of the courthouse's 100 year anniversary celebration.

Sioux City Public Museum History Curator Matt Anderson says, "It was almost like discovering buried treasure is how I would say. If you came across a tin box in the ground and you opened it up and there was something neat in it. That's what it was like. It was like a new discovery that no one else had seen for a 100 years."

The capsule was a small copper box which held newspaper clippings, never before seen photos, and a variety of coins. Some of these artifacts were from the original 1876 courthouse.

Jeremy Taylor is the courthouse Centennial Co-chair and says, "I think it's a wonderful way to display some of our history and to look forward to the future to see how we'll preserve this for the next 100 years."

The materials found were in great condition. The copper capsule was sealed well and did not allow any moisture in, preserving the newspaper, booklets and photographs inside.

"These pristine contents look like they were photographs taken a month ago and yet they connect us to views of Sioux City that hadn't been seen for over a hundred years so there are ways we can connect to our past in a very rich and tangible way", Taylor says.

Not everything from the time capsule is on display. Anderson says there's enough material to fill three cases which he hopes will be on display some day.

"It really deepens one's appreciation for the history that's gone into this building and the craftsmanship. And also there are things that historians around haven't seen before", Taylor added.

From May 1st-5th, local and regional historians will highlight the importance of the Woodbury County courthouse.

The Centennial Committee is looking to create another time capsule similar in size to show future generations, what things were like today.