City of Sanibel opens time capsule for 50th anniversary

It’s a chance to see what the past was like. Forty-one years ago, the City of Sanibel put items in a time capsule to be opened on the 50th anniversary of the city’s incorporation.

On Tuesday, WINK News was there to see what people had to say about the island decades ago.

This capsule was opened sometime around 5 p.m.

Guesses ranged from everything from letters to old photographs and we saw it all.

We heard what was in the headlines of newspapers back in 1983 and what the people of that time wanted to leave with those living on Sanibel now.

“I finally found one … A Junonia,” said one resident referring to a rare shell. “A photograph.”

Here are some pictures of what the island looked like back then:

People on Sanibel speculated about what might be inside.

The chair of the historic preservation committee noted that when this time capsule was sealed, the Sanibel school played a large role, so they anticipated that something related to that was in there.

We had islanders take guesses and some of them guessed right.

“I’m thinking we see a Junonia. I’m thinking we see some really cool photos,” said John Lai, president and CEO of the Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce.

Some of their guesses were correct.

Before the big reveal, One of the biggest questions was how well did all of the contents hold up.

“I think really the worst was, of course, Ian, and it was underwater for probably eight hours or so, and so it’s hard to say what we’re going to find. It could be very ugly,” said Deb Gleason, chairperson of the Sanibel Historic Preservation Committee.

Time proved that the contents held up well, just like Sanibel after every storm.

Sanibel has big plans for the future for these items from the past.

“We might have a permanent display, but I think some of them would be put back into the time capsule because we hope to do another time capsule,” said Gleason.

You may wonder why they picked today to open the capsule, but the day really picked them. Nov. 5, 2024, was the date put on the capsule because it was this day 50 years ago Sanibel was incorporated.