Spartanburg city leaders remember the past, look to the future during time capsule opening

Spartanburg city leaders had a symbolic meeting with leaders of the past Wednesday during the opening of the city’s 1961 time capsule.

City leaders including Mayor Jerome Rice and Spartanburg City Council members Meghan Smith, Jamie Fulmer, Janie Salley, Erica Brown, and Ruth Littlejohn, several local freemasons, and many curious residents gathered in the city hall parking lot to witness the opening of the time capsule.

The time capsule, which was set into the cornerstone of the building, was removed in preparation for the demolition of city hall to make way for the city-county government complex, which is expected to open in 2026.

The April 3 date was chosen to mark the 63rd anniversary of the first city council meeting held in the now-former city hall.

Mayor Rice said the event was a chance to think about the past and the future.

“We’re taking a look back at what was here before us and the decisions that Council made for Spartanburg to get us to this point. The decisions that they made have gotten us to where we are today,” Rice said. “We’re hoping that we’re making decisions that will move us on not just 63 years, but 100 years, 150 years from now and keep Spartanburg where it’s still a place we love to live, play and work.”

Rice and city Communications Manager Christopher George removed plastic-wrapped items, including many city documents, from the time capsule. All of the items appeared to be in good condition.

The items are now in the care of the local history archives at the Spartanburg County Public Library headquarters in downtown Spartanburg.

“It's rare that we have an opportunity to have the past reach out to us here in the future from their perspective. Today is one of those days. We’re also very encouraged to see how well everything was preserved,” said Brad Steinecke, assistant director of local history at the Spartanburg County Public Library. "That was a big question going into today. Condensation can sometimes wreck fragile documents on the insides of these boxes, but that was not the case.”

What was inside?

Among the 30 items inside the time capsule were a 1960 city directory, a bound copy of the 1958 city code, the 1960-61 city budget, a phone book, and a copy of the Spartanburg Herald dated July 18, 1956.

Photographs were also included, among them a photo commemorating the first city council meeting at the 1961 city hall, photos of the 1914 city hall demolition and construction of the 1961 city hall.

A collection of 10 antique coins were also included, each marking the year of a significant event in Spartanburg history such as the incorporation of the municipality of Spartanburg in 1831, a coin from 1842 for the publication of the county’s first newspaper, and a coin for the establishment of the Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport in 1927, the same year Charles Lindberg visited.

There were also Masonic booklets and programs included and programs and memorabilia from the dedication of the 1961 city hall.

The items were collected after the capsule opening. Some of the documents will remain in the library archives while some items will be returned to the city for display, according to Steinecke.

City leaders have plans for new time capsule

Rice said a new time capsule will be laid in the city-county complex when it’s complete. He thinks it should include examples of current technology.

“We’ll definitely add some cell phones and all that into the time capsule,” Rice said.

District 1 City Councilwoman Meghan Smith was interested in taking a closer look at the city budget, which was $2 million in 1961. She looked forward to making a new capsule.

“It’s exciting to both see what they put in there, but it’s also exciting to think about what will we put in our own time capsule that says who we see ourselves as,” said Smith.

Smith said she thinks that in addition to official documents like the ones included in the 1961 time capsule, the new time capsule should include items that reflect the values of the city.

“I think it would be good to put some things in there talking about what our priorities are,” Smith said. “The first thing that came to my mind was something about Hello, Family. That’s one of our big initiatives right now, supporting our youngest residents and our families. It would be super cool when they open it up (in the future) to see that the disparities that we’re working on now have been solved because of the efforts of the city and so many of our community partners.”

Samantha Swann covers city news, development and culture in Spartanburg. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her at sswann@shj.com or on Instagram at @sam_on_spartanburg.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: A look inside the 1961 Spartanburg City Hall time capsule reveals past