Philly is burying a time capsule under Independence Hall for the next 250 years and Pennsylvania’s contribution is a letter from Josh Shapiro

A 900-pound stainless steel time capsule is being buried 10 feet below Independence Hall on July 4th as part of the America250 celebration and it won’t be opened until the year 2276, which means whatever goes inside that thing is going to represent the United States of America to people who won’t be born for another two centuries.

Every state submitted items, professional sports leagues contributed, the Library of Congress got involved, and the final list of contents was revealed on Monday by America250, the national organization that Congress tasked with leading the initiative.

New Mexico sent 12 items including a vial of sand, a Navajo silversmith necklace, a bolo tie, and a recipe for their official state cookie. Maine contributed a bone from an endangered North Atlantic right whale. Coca-Cola put in an original bottle with the lyrics to “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke.”

The Library of Congress included synthetic DNA encoded with digital copies of the Declaration of Independence, 19th-century audio recordings of the Star Spangled Banner, and a 3D rendering of Abraham Lincoln’s hand.

California asked the Claude AI chatbot what their state would look like in 250 years and put the response in the capsule, which means artificial intelligence is now being preserved in a time capsule under Independence Hall as a historical artifact. What a time to be alive.

And Pennsylvania…?

The commonwealth where the Declaration of Independence was signed, where the Constitution was written, where the Liberty Bell sits, where the entire concept of American independence was born?

Governor Josh Shapiro wrote a letter addressed to citizens 250 years from now and the state included an archival booklet listing historical achievements.

A letter from the governor and a booklet. That’s what Pennsylvania is putting in the time capsule that’s being buried under Independence Hall in the city where America was founded during the 250th anniversary of the founding.

New Mexico sent a cookie recipe, a bolo tie, and a vial of sand and Pennsylvania couldn’t do better than a form letter from Harrisburg and a pamphlet.

That is absolutely pathetic and whoever was in charge of Pennsylvania’s submission should be embarrassed because the state that literally created American independence submitted the equivalent of a corporate holiday card while New Mexico went all out with 12 items that actually tell you something about who they are as a people.

Gotta Ask… Why Is Every State Even Involved in This?

I understand the concept of national unity and I understand that all 50 states are part of the country, but this time capsule is being buried under Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the 250th anniversary of a document that was signed in the building directly above where the capsule will sit.

America250 should be all Philly because Philly is where America started and the idea that New Jersey gets to submit an inscribed stainless steel plate with their state motto in eight languages for a capsule being buried in our city is genuinely offensive to me.

New Jersey’s inscription says “New Jersey sends greetings to the people of 2276, expressing the hope that the values that guide us in 2026, liberty, opportunity, cooperation, love and respect for one another, continue to shape society 250 years from now.”

That’s very nice, New Jersey. Very thoughtful.

Now explain to me why your stainless steel greeting card is being buried under Independence Hall instead of under whatever rest stop on the Turnpike best represents your state’s contribution to American history.

You don’t get to piggyback on Philadelphia’s historical significance by stuffing a motivational poster into a capsule that’s going in the ground beneath the building where the actual founding of this country happened.

Every state got to participate because Congress mandated it that way, which is fine for a national celebration but feels wrong for a physical capsule that is being placed beneath the single most historically significant building in the entire country.

If you’re going to bury something under Independence Hall, the contents should reflect the city and the building and the history that happened on that exact piece of ground. Not a cookie recipe from New Mexico and well wishes from Trenton.

The Time Capsule Sports Contributions Are Actually Cool

Major League Baseball submitted a lineup card from the 2026 Opening Day game between the Phillies and the Rangers, which is a genuinely perfect item for a time capsule being buried in Philadelphia because it captures a specific moment in the city’s sports history that someone in 2276 can look at and understand exactly who was playing and when.

The PGA of America contributed a divot tool that was used at this year’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club along with a photo of the winner Aaron Rai, which ties directly to Philadelphia’s golf history and the region’s connection to one of the sport’s major championships.

Those are the kinds of items that belong in this capsule because they’re specific, meaningful, and connected to the city where the capsule is being buried. A Phillies Opening Day lineup card tells future generations something real about Philadelphia in 2026. A letter from the governor of Pennsylvania tells them that bureaucrats have always been boring.

The Engineering Is Impressive Even If Some of the Contents Are Underwhelming

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and preservation experts at the Library of Congress have been working on the capsule’s design since Congress mandated it in 2016 to ensure it can withstand 250 years in Philadelphia’s humid underground environment. The final design is a cylinder rather than a box because corners and edges are more likely to crack over time, surrounded by a water and air-tight compression seal with a 1,100-pound stainless steel bell jar cover creating an air pocket to prevent water intrusion. Paper documents are stored in a separate compartment and most other contents sit in archival boxes within the main cylinder.

They spent a decade engineering a 900-pound capsule that can survive underground in Philadelphia’s humidity for 250 years and the state of Pennsylvania filled it with a letter and a booklet. The container itself is more impressive than half the things inside it, which is a sentence that perfectly captures the gap between what this moment could have been and what the people in charge actually did with it.

What Should Have Gone in From Philadelphia

If I’m running the Philadelphia contribution to a time capsule being buried under Independence Hall, here’s what goes in. A cheesesteak vacuum-sealed and preserved for eternity because if the future doesn’t know about cheesesteaks then we failed as a civilization.

A Jalen Hurts Eagles jersey from the Super Bowl LIX championship season. A vial of water from the Schuylkill River so future generations can test it and confirm that yes, it was always that disgusting.

A SEPTA token from before they switched to the key card system. A print copy of The Liberty Line so future generations know there was at least one media outlet in this city that told the truth about Philadelphia sports.

An actual Liberty Bell replica, not a pamphlet about the Liberty Bell but a physical replica that someone in 2276 can hold and understand what the symbol meant to this city.

Instead we got a letter from Harrisburg in a time capsule being buried under Independence Hall. In the city where America was born. During the 250th anniversary of the founding.

Pennsylvania had 250 years of history to draw from and ten years of lead time to prepare, and the best we could come up with was a governor’s letter and a booklet. If the people who open this capsule in 2276 judge Pennsylvania by what we put inside it, they’re going to think we were the most boring state in the union, and based on this submission they wouldn’t be wrong.

Happy birthday, America. Sorry about the pamphlet.

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