Time capsule stashed for the future

AUSTIN (KXAN) - University United Methodist Church members sent a heavenly message to future generations. Sunday morning, they left a time capsule for a new generation to find. The congregation united for a sacred goal.

"I think it ties this generation to two generations from now," said Velma Matthews, Longtime Church Member.

The time capsule was placed for the next generation to open 100 years from now. Inside the waterproof box, church members placed a CD, a newspaper and a letter to the next generation.

"I got tickled about how they put in CDs and all of that," said Hazel Mayfield, Longtime Church Member.

Forrest Pope is a stone mason who discovered the original time capsule, which was left by past congregations more than 100 years ago.

The old time capsule had a copy of The Austin Statesman from the day the capsule was stashed away in the exterior church wall. The front page story focuses on cotton prices and another story inside the paper reports that the Austin City Council did, “Nothing Important.” Then there is the advertisement for the new Hyde Park neighborhood, Austin’s first “subdivision,” now an integrated, expensive and highly sought after part of town. The ad suggests that speculators might be interested in buying several lots in the neighborhood for later resale.

Pope had the honor of placing the new time capsule behind a limestone wall for future generations to find.

"It's kind of masonry lore that if you look underneath cornerstorne of a building, you'll find a time capsule," said Pope. "I kind of had a treasure hunter feeling almost, something like that maybe."

It was a celestial connection, uniting the past, present and future.