The City of Montgomery, the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH), and the Montgomery County Historical Society will commemorate Montgomery’s bicentennial with the opening of a time capsule sealed 50 years ago and instructed to be opened only on December 3, 2019 – the city’s bicentennial.

Following the opening of the time capsule, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and the Montgomery City Council will light the City of Montgomery Christmas Tree at Lister Hill Plaza (across from City Hall).

The time capsule contains magazines, newspapers, brochures and other materials from across the city, letters written by Montgomery residents to their descendants and letters from then Alabama Governor Albert Brewer, Montgomery Mayor Earl James and other city officials to their successors 50 years in the future. In 1969, as part of the city’s 150th anniversary commemorations, the time capsule was sealed during a ceremony held at the ADAH. Instructions stated that it be opened on Montgomery’s bicentennial, December 3, 2019, and the letters written by Montgomerians to their descendants be delivered.