STURGIS, S.D. – The Sturgis & Meade County Historical Society, working with the Meade County Commission and the Sturgis Area Arts Council, will reinstall the original 1894 Courthouse Time Capsule on December 18th.
The reinstallation will take place in Meade County’s Erskine Office Building, located at 1300 Sherman Street in Sturgis at 2pm MST. The program will begin with a brief presentation in the Commissioner’s meeting room on the second floor, followed by the reinstallation on the first floor.
The time capsule was placed in the corner stone of the original Meade County Courthouse, during the building’s dedication in 1894. Seventy years later, in 1964, while that building was torn down to make way for a new Meade County Courthouse, the time capsule was discovered. With little fanfare, the items in the time capsule were photographed and returned to the tin box in which they were discovered.
Following the dedication of the new courthouse, this box, along with a few other items were placed in a compartment under a model of the original courthouse and eventually forgotten.
While cleaning the courthouse model for a presentation, Meade County employee Kevin Forrester found and opened the compartment, uncovering the mysterious time capsule once again. Among the items found were 1950s newspapers, flags, primary ballots and other historical items.
“I went ahead and opened up the back and was dusting the model off and discovered that it had a drawer on the back of it and, of course, there was some items in it. It was very hard for me to not take a look it at the time, but upon opening it the first time, I knew it was a significant piece that was a portion of our community’s history and that our community should share the opening of it.”
Since that time, it has been the intent of the Meade County Commission to reinstall the time capsule in their Erskine Office Building, which itself is the refurbished Historic Erskine School building. To that end, the Meade County Commission authorized the Sturgis & Meade County Historical Society, with the help of the Sturgis Area Art’s Council, to plan and prepare the time capsule for that activity.
“From the beginning” said Mark Rambow, President of the Sturgis & Meade County Historical Society, “it has been our intent to treat the items in the time capsule as historic documents, preserving them in a safe manner, while still allowing for their long-term storage.”
To that end, the Historical Society has purchased an archival-safe container, protective sleeves and binders to secure, not just the original items, but other items being added to the time capsule. The new items are intended to fill in some of the gaps in the community and county’s history since 1894 and 1964. Some of these items will be organizational newsletters, updated church histories, playbills from Art’s Council programs, and digitally recorded historical presentations.
Organizations or individuals wishing to include a history of their church or organization, their family story, business card or advertising, or other item, can reach out to the Historical Society to have those items included. While physical space does offer some limitations, many items can be included digitally. Thumb drives with digital information will be included in the Time Capsule, along with a high-quality digital photo frame. The thumb drives can be viewed on the digital frame through a built in USB port.
The deadline to receive items is December 13, 2024. Those wishing to include something in the time capsule are encouraged to contact the historical society at sturgishistory.org@gmail.com. The receiving deadline for items is Friday, December 13, 2024.
