This Lovely Little Nebraska Town Opened The World's Largest Time Capsule And It's Full Of Vintage Treasures

Harold Keith Davisson was worried his grandchildren wouldn't remember him. His solution was to preserve the essence of his life and do it in the biggest way possible: building a 45-ton concrete vault on the front lawn of his home in Seward, Nebraska — not to be confused with Seward, Alaska, one of the best destinations for whale watching. It was the world's largest time capsule, as recorded by the World Record Academy, sealed on July 4, 1975, and not to be opened until 50 years had passed. On June 26, 2025, the vault was finally cracked open to reveal over 5,000 items.

A 1975 Chevrolet Vega and a Kawasaki motorcycle are among the more impressive items, and they are in surprisingly good condition. The vault also kept leisure suits, bikini bottoms, soda bottles, pet rocks, and many, many letters and photographs. Trish Davisson Johnson, Davisson's daughter, said to NBC News that "there were packages from, I'm going to say, 3,000 people, letters and packages, letters to themselves, letters to the grandchildren, letters to their heirs."

Opening the vault has been on Johnson's mind for a while. To access the time capsule, the pyramid, which sat above it, had to be cut into pieces and moved. The pyramid itself also hosted a slew of items — including a well-loved Toyota Corolla — and was opened and emptied in July 2024. That task alone took six hours.

Davisson was a local businessman, and many called him a "town character." He was in his golden years when he started his time capsule project. According to his daughter, he believed that reading about the past just wasn't enough to really convey what life was like back then. He wanted his family to touch and feel what it was like to be a person in the mid-1970s. 

Keeping the items in the vault pristine for 50 years was perhaps the biggest challenge. While Davisson did build the vault with a good ventilation system, the pyramid — a smaller vault added in 1983 to preserve the world title — doubled as a roof to prevent water from seeping into the original capsule. Spots of rust on the Chevy (pictured), which was covered in plastic when buried, show that moisture was definitely building up, but certainly not as much as many feared. According to Johnson, 80% of the items are said to be in good enough condition to be returned to their original homes and intended recipients. 

You may be surprised to learn that Nebraska has quite a few impressive feats like this one to its name. It's home to one of the quietest places on Earth, a gorgeous, remote river trail with towering cliffs; America's smallest town, with a population of just one; and the world's largest indoor desert under the world's largest glazed geodesic dome.