Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - Over 50 years after it was commemorated for America's Bicentennial, Cherryville's 1976 time capsule is missing, leaving city officials and local historians searching for answers.
The time capsule was part of Cherryville's Bicentennial celebration on Saturday, May 8, 1976, located at the Cherryville Mini Park, as documented by The Eagle. The capsule was originally installed in a wall and marked by a commemorative plaque that now stands as the Darin and Brooke Aldridge mural, alongside the Bob and Pat Barker mural. Puett states that former City Manager, Jeff Cash, served on the committee responsible for the project.
That changed in the 1990s when a truck crashed into the wall, forcing the removal of the time capsule. The City Council Meeting minutes confirm that the time capsule was relocated, but do not specify what was done with it. The commemorative plaque was also removed and was expected to remain with the capsule.
Former Public Works Director Brandon Abernathy seemed to recall the capsule as an 8-by-16-inch black metal box with a wooden box housed inside. According to Abernathy, the capsule was believed to have been moved to City Hall during the wall reconstruction.
What happens next remains unclear.
With 2026 marking the 50th anniversary of the time capsule being stowed away, Puett and City Manager Brian Dalton launched a search to locate the missing time capsule. According to Puett, they "tore city hall apart". Looking in storage locations, including the city's vault, every office inside city hall, the city's records library, the former EMS bay, and the basement.
According to Puett, Paige Green, the previous City Clerk, had no knowledge of the time capsule during her tenure with the city. Beyond Puett and Dalton, Cherryville citizen Louanna Kiser spoke with Alice Dellinger to determine whether the Cherryville Historical Museum had any knowledge of its whereabouts. Furthermore, the storage buildings on Self Street were also searched, but no trace of the capsule was found.
Puett said the city vault would have been the safest place, but despite the extensive search, neither the time capsule nor its commemorative plaque has been located.
Anyone with information about the time capsule or the missing plaque is encouraged to contact the City of Cherryville or Wise News Network for additional details.
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