Does anyone remember what was placed in the Frisco City time capsule?

Jones Park in Frisco City, Ala.

This week’s featured historical marker is the marker in the park in downtown Frisco City, Ala.

This marker is located on the west side of State Highway 21, which is called Bowden Street in Frisco City. The marker sits just off the highway in a small park that’s near the intersection of Bowden Street and Mulberry Street. It can be found between the white gazebo and the red train caboose that’s on display at the park.

I’m not sure when this marker was erected or exactly who was responsible for having it placed in the park. The marker doesn’t say. There’s printing on both sides of the marker, but the wording is the same on both sides. What follows is the complete text from the marker.

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“HISTORICAL MARKER: This park area was given to the Jones Mill, now Frisco City community, by J.W. Jones in the year 1913.”

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For those of you unfamiliar with Frisco City, it’s a small town of around 1,300 residents in Monroe County, Ala. Frisco City was once known as Jones Mill, but changed its name to Frisco City decades ago in honor of the Frisco Railroad. A portion of that old railroad still runs through the town today and the caboose in the town’s park is from those old railroad days.

If you visit the park today be sure to check out the unusual time capsule, which is also located in the park between the gazebo and the caboose. I’d say that it’s about 20 feet from the historical marker mentioned above. The capsule is housed inside of a short, raised brick structure that has a cement top. A plaque in the top reads as follows:

“FRISCO CITY CENTENNIAL TIME CAPSULE: PLACED HERE IN 1988, DO NOT OPEN UNTIL OCT. 2088; TIME CAPSULE CONTAINS NO ARTICLES OF ANY MONETARY VALUE: TOWN OF FRISCO CITY, AL; MAYOR BILLY McCRORY; COUNCIL MEMBERS BILLY HOFFMAN, JOE IKNER, JIMMY McKINLEY, JUANITA RICHARDSON; TOWN CLERK DIANE GODWIN.”

I grew up in Frisco City and vaguely remember the town’s Centennial celebration. I want to say that I was at the time capsule-laying ceremony, but I was 12 at the time, and my memory of that day is somewhat fuzzy. I do remember that the town’s main street was closed for the day due to a parade and other activities.

Over the years, a couple of people have contacted me wanting to know if I knew what was in the time capsule. I haven’t ran across a list of its contents anywhere, but I also haven’t checked any back issues of The Monroe Journal from that time either. There very well may be a list of the capsule’s contents in newspaper articles from that time. With that said, do any of you know what was placed in the time capsule? If so, let us know in the comments section below.

In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about another local historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me to feature, let me know in the comments section below.