Workers found something peculiar when they ripped out walls in the Limestone County Courthouse in Athens.

A metal container resembling an ammunition box had been stuffed into a wall in what was once the Limestone County Circuit Clerk’s Office.

The stainless steel, welded box fell from above the counter rollup doors and the header above them.

“There were no markings on the box and there was nothing on the wall to indicate there was anything hidden inside the wall,” said Kelly Howard of Martin & Cobey Construction, the contractor overseeing the courthouse renovation.

So, like kids at Christmas, they opened it. Inside was a computer-generated note that read:

 

ALMA

Athens Limestone Memorable Achievements

TIME CAPSULE

Sealed November 1993

OPEN IN 2018

 

“I started looking for plaque after we found it but I didn’t find anything,” Howard said.

There was nothing on the rollup door to indicate hidden treasure above.

“It wasn’t until we took the door and the header out that it fell,” Howard said.

They took the container to the office of County Administrator Pam Ball, which is where everyone goes when they need an answer. She has it stored in the county’s vault.

Without ruining the surprise, the box contains an autographed baseball, various doodads, essays from school children, a book, envelopes and a rather ominous blue tube with the letters “TVA” stamped in white. (Raise your hand if you want to open that? Well, someone did, and it was nothing harmful.)

If the previous county commission had not decided to renovate the courthouse, no one would have found the capsule in time for its 25-year opening in 2018, Howard said. 

If the current county commission decides to create a time capsule and hide it in a wall of the courthouse, they know what to do.

When 2018 rolls around, county officials will share the contents of the capsule.