City dedicating time capsule to be opened in nearly 100 years

Published 12:01 am Friday, June 15, 2018

 

NATCHEZ — This Monday, citizens will have the chance to witness something that no one else will for nearly a century.

A time capsule dedicated to the Natchez tricentennial will be locked up until the city’s 400th birthday in 2116.

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The 11 a.m. Monday ceremony at City Hall will see memorabilia such as special T-shirts, commemorative Coca-Cola bottles, an album full of news articles covering tricentennial events and other special mementos placed in the time capsule — a cabinet built by local carpenter Adam Gwin.

Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell said he thought up the time capsule idea a while back and he is happy to see it come to fruition.

“There’s a letter that has been executed by myself and former mayor Butch Brown … that we have addressed to the mayor of 2116,” Grennell said, “about our event and how much the citizens enjoyed it, and charged him or her to keep the torch going during the 400-(year) celebration.”

Officials will lock the cabinet, which is already located in City Hall, and the key will hang in front of the cabinet for the next 98 years, Grennell said.

Monday’s dedication is open to the public, and Grennell, Brown and fellow former mayor Tony Byrne are expected to attend, said Stratton Hall, Visit Natchez community and public relations specialist.