City of Huntington’s 150th Anniversary Time Capsule Ceremony

For the past year, the City of Huntington’s 150th Anniversary committee has worked diligently to outreach to people with ties to Huntington to submit items for the time capsule. On Oct. 22, the city of Huntington will commemorate its anniversary with a time capsule ceremony.

The committee chose Oct. 22 as a nod to the city founder Collis P. Huntington’s 200th Birthday.

The time capsule ceremony will be at the Mountain Health Arena Plaza at 10 a.m. on Oct. 22 and will last approximately 45 minutes. This event is open to the public.

The ceremony will include poems read by Huntington’s inaugural Literary Laureate Daniel O’Malley, as well as performances by Marshall University’s Marching Thunder and cheerleading team. Speakers include Mayor Steve Williams, Marshall President Jerome Gilbert, Mountain Health Network CEO Kevin Yingling and more.

If there is rain the day of the event, the event will take place inside Mountain Health Arena’s Conference Center. Due to social distancing guidelines, there will be limited attendance if the event is moved indoors. The event will also be livestreamed on the City of Huntington’s Facebook page rain or shine.

Some items will also be publicly placed into the time capsule before it is officially sealed for 100 years.

“Our goal is to give the community a glimpse into what Huntingtonians will open in 100 years,” said Bryan Chambers, director of communications for the City of Huntington and the 150th Anniversary committee chair. “At the same time, we want to reveal some of the items while also keeping the majority sealed away until the time capsule is opened in the future. We encourage the community to safely attend this event because it’s a special moment in our collective history. It’s not every day that you seal a time capsule, and because of the community, our sponsors and so many more, we are able to provide an array of items that will hopefully last the test of time.”

Once the ceremony is finished, the closed time capsule will be placed in its permanent location in City Hall.